A Jamaican ska & reggae musician, multi-instrumentalist, singer and actor know as Jimmy Cliff, was born as James Chambers on 1st April year 1948 in Somerton District, St. James, Jamaica. From this we can say he is of 68 years. He is renowned as the only living musician to hold the Order of Merit, the highest honour that can be granted by the Jamaican government for achievements in the arts and sciences. About his education, he began writing songs while still at primary school in St. James, listening to a neighbour’s sound system. In year 1962 his father took him to Kingston to go to Kingston Technical school, where he ended up sharing his cousin’s one rented room in East Kingston.
From the sources it seem like he isnot much involved in social networking sites like Twitter and Instagram. This also means he does not like to upload his recent activities in those sites to share them with his beloved fans and loved ones or we can even say that he is too busy in his work. But not to be depressed as a lot of information on him and his interesting biography can be grabbed from wiki sites like Wikipedia or wikia or wikiquicky .Also adding the fact that he has a facebook page having 51638 likes. With the help of his successful career it has given him great earnings and a great net worth. So, he is living a financially sound life because of it. According to sources, he has a huge figured net worth of 18 million dollars.
With a lots of burden of work however he has managed to keep his personal life very low profile after being so popular. The only information available about his personal life is that he has two children among whom one is son and one is daughter and the fact that they resides in Jamaica. Thus, this proves he is not gay. It is sure that he is a married man and he must have a wife but details about his wife is on a strict hiddence. From sources we can say that he has not been through divorce till now.
Talking about his begining journey now a huge success. He was lucky enough to sought out many producers while still going to school, trying to get his songs recorded without success. This also landed him to enter many talent contests. But the path was not as easy as it seems, after two singles that failed to make much impression, his career turned over when “Hurricane Hattie” became a huge hit, while he was 14 years. The real helper and producer was Kong, with whom he remained until the sad Kong’s death from a heart attack in year 1971. His later local hit singles included “King of Kings”, “Dearest Beverley”, “Miss Jamaica”, and “Pride and Passion”. In year 1964, he was chosen as one of Jamaica’s representatives at the world’s fair. Then he soon signed to Island Records and moved to the United Kingdom. Adding that his international debut album was Hard Road to Travel, released in year 1967. It received excellent reviews and included “Waterfall” which became a hit in Brazil and won the International Song Festival. After that”Waterfall” was followed in year 1969 by “Wonderful World, Beautiful People” and in year 1970 by “Vietnam” , both was popular throughout most of the world. Also the fact that, Bob Dylan called “Vietnam” the best protest song he had ever heard. During the same period, he also released a cover of Cat Stevens’ “Wild World” as a single, but it was not included on his Wonderful World, Beautiful People album.
In year 1972, he was starred as Ivanhoe “Ivan” Martin in the classic reggae film,called The Harder They Come, directed by Perry Henzell. Also the soundtrack album of the film was a huge success that sold well across the world, bringing reggae to an international audience for the first time. It also remains as one of the most internationally significant films to have come out of Jamaica since independence. The film made its first existence at London’s Gaumont cinema in Notting Hill on 1st September year 1972.Then in 1975, he sang on the first season of Saturday Night Live, episode 12, hosted by Dick Cavett. After a series of albums, he decided taking a break and traveled to Africa and subsequently he was converted to Islam, taking the new name: El Hadj Naïm Bachir. But then happily he quickly returned to music, touring for several years before he recorded with Kool & the Gang. In year 1984, he also appeared at the Pinkpop Festival in Landgraaf, Netherlands.
Netherlands. During The River Tour, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band added his previously little-known song “Trapped” to their live set; it achieved great prominence when included on the 1985’s We Are the World benefit album. For this in year 1985, he won a Grammy Award for ‘Best Reggae Album’, though it was his last major success in the United States until 1993. Also in year 1985, he contributed to the song “Sun City”, a protest song written and composed by Steven Van Zandt and recorded by Artists United Against Apartheid to convey opposition to the South African policy of apartheid. He then provided backing vocals on The Rolling Stones’ 1986 album Dirty Work, and appeared in the comedy Club Paradise, co-starring with Robin Williams and Peter O’Toole, and contributed several songs to the soundtrack, including “Seven Day Weekend”, which he sang with Elvis Costello. In year 1988, his song “Shelter of Your Love” was featured in the hit film known as Cocktail. He also appeared in another film called Marked for Death in year 1990, performing as “John Crow” with the Jimmy Cliff Band. Also, his recording of “You Can Get It If You Really Want” was used as a campaign anthem by the Sandinista National Liberation Front in the year 1990 election in Nicaragua. After in year 1991, performed at the second Rock in Rio festival also in Estádio do Maracanã and in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He continued to sell well in Jamaica and the UK, returning to the mainstream pop charts in the U.S. and finally first in France with a version of Johnny Nash’s known as “I Can See Clearly Now” on the Cool Runnings film soundtrack in year 1993. In year 1995, Cliff finally released the single “Hakuna Matata”, a collaboration with Lebo M, a song from the soundtrack of the film called The Lion King.
In year 2001, he became an inaugural member of the Independent Music Awards’ judging panel to support independent artists. In year 2002, he released the album Fantastic Plastic People in Europe. In year 2004, he finally completely reworked the songs, dropping the traditional reggae in favour of an electronic sound, for inclusion in Black Magic. The album also included a recording of “Over the Border” with Joe Strummer. he also performed at the closing ceremony to the 2002 Commonwealth Games and in 2003, his song where “You Can Get It If You Really Want” was included in the soundtrack to the film, called Something’s Gotta Give. He also appeared in July year 2003 at the Paléo Festival in Nyon, Switzerland. For the huge success and hardwork the Jamaican government under P. J. Patterson honoured him on 20th October 2003, by awarding him The Order of Merit, the nation’s third-highest honour, in recognition of his contributions to the film and music of Jamaica.
An interesting fact : Cliff and Mervyn Morris are the only currently living figures from the arts to hold this distinction and he is the only living musician to do so.
In year 2007, he performed at the opening ceremony at cricket’s World Cup. In the spring and summer of year 2010, he was on an extensive tour of the U.S. and Canada. In the month of September 2009, he was nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, following a campaign on his behalf by the American Charles Earle. Also on 15th December 2009, he was officially announced as an inductee and was inducted on 15th March 2010 by Wyclef Jean. Finally he performed at Raggamuffin Music Festival #2011. Also in the same year 2011, he also worked with producer Tim Armstrong, lead singer of American punk band Rancid, on the EP The Sacred Fire and also on the full length album Rebirth. Also the fact that, Rebirth was nominated for a Grammy Award for ‘Best Reggae Album’. The album was listed at rank 12 on Rolling Stone’s list of the top 50 albums of 2012. In December year 2012, he was named as ‘Artist of the Year’ by digital newspaper the Caribbean Journal, citing his work on the album Rebirth. His recent performance was in Bildein, Austria, in the year 2012.
Also from different sources we ca say cutting the rumors, he is not a member of the Rastafari movement. It can be proved as he now describes himself as having a universal outlook on life, and does not align himself with any particular movement or religionstating that now he only believe in science.