Jimmy Cliff^†

Walking into a Kingston record store and convincing the owner to become a record producer is the kind of origin story that shouldn't work. It worked. That first hustle gave him his debut hit 'Hurricane Hattie' and eventually Leslie Kong as a regular collaborator. But the real break was The Harder They Come, a 1972 film that was the first made entirely by a Jamaican cast and crew. He starred and contributed four songs, including the title track. At Manhattan's Elgin Theatre, it ran at midnight for 80 consecutive weekends. Reggae crossed oceans on the back of that film, and he was the vehicle.

Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010, he was one of only two Jamaicans to make the cut (the other being Bob Marley). The Bob Marley family was among the first to pay tribute after his death, noting that he was the one who brought Marley to producer Leslie Kong in 1962 to record his first singles. His 2012 album Rebirth, produced with Tim Armstrong of Rancid, won the Grammy for Best Reggae Album. He kept performing and recording into his eighties. The original international reggae export outlasted almost everyone who followed his lead.

His stage name was a deliberate choice: 'Jimmy Cliff' was meant to evoke the career heights he intended to reach, which tells you something about the kid who walked cold into a Kingston record store and convinced the owner to become a music producer. His family descended from Maroons, Jamaican fugitive slaves who resisted British rule for generations. His cover of Cat Stevens' 'Wild World' became one of his most recognizable recordings, which says something about his entire career: he had a gift for finding exactly the right material and making it sound like it was always his.

Jamaica's House of Representatives held a tribute session the day after his death and announced a state funeral. The Jamaican government organized an official Celebration of Life on December 17 at the National Indoor Sports Centre in Kingston, where thousands attended. His daughter Lilty performed alongside Beenie Man, Tessanne Chin, and Nadine Sutherland. Cliff had left specific instructions that he wanted a celebration, not a sombre occasion, and the family followed them.