The world was shocked when two music legends, Jimmy Cliff from Jamaica and Nicholas ‘Madzibaba’ Zakaria from Zimbabwe died recently.
I decided a long time ago, when he came to Zimbabwe, that Jimmy Cliff, a reggae superstar, cultural hero, prolific singer, songwriter and film actor, more than deserves to get a big honour, just like Bob Marley ,should he die in my lifetime.
Many obituaries have now been written about this colossal man.
Jimmy Cliff, a onetime choirboy who emerged from the rough quarters of Kingston, Jamaica, riding a rebel spirit and a fierce sense of social justice to help make the supple, bobbing sounds of reggae a global phenomenon with meaningful songs like You Can Get It If You Really Want and The Harder They Come, which resonated across the world, died on the November 24, 2025 aged 81.
James Chambers, known professionally as Jimmy Cliff, was a Jamaican ska, rocksteady, reggae and soul musician. He was considered to be one of Jamaica’s most celebrated musicians and was credited with helping to popularise reggae music internationally.
Cliff’s wife, Latifa Chambers, announced his death in an online post She said the cause was a seizure followed by pneumonia. Fuelled by his searing performance as a musician-turned-outlaw in the 1972 film The Harder They Come, Cliff became the first worldwide reggae star before Bob Marley.
But he set his sights even higher. Over the years, his musical journey encompassed ska, rocksteady, pop, soul and other genres.
“I didn’t really want to be known just as the King of Reggae,” he said in a 2004 interview with The Washington Post. “I actually wanted to be known as the King of Music!”
- Zim crying out for political remaking
- Jimmy Cliff, Jamaican reggae singer, actor and cultural icon, dies aged 81
- The singer and songwriter Jimmy Cliff, who has died aged 81, was one of Jamaica’s most celebrated performers
- Jimmy Cliff, Nicholas Zakaria leaid to rest
Keep Reading
Jimmy Cliff won two Grammy Awards over his decades-long career: best reggae recording in 1986 for Cliff Hanger and best reggae album in 2013 for Rebirth.
In addition to his own celebrated recording career, he is credited with helping to pave a path for Bob Marley, Desmond Dekker and others to leverage reggae’s rhythms in spreading a universal message of defiance and hope.
Following his death, Prime Minister Andrew Holness of Jamaica called him “a true cultural giant whose music carried the heart of our nation to the world.”
The Harder They Come became a cult favourite in the United States. Cliff, in the film’s lead role, played Ivanhoe Martin, who abandons an impoverished life in the Jamaican countryside for the capital city of Kingston. Hoping to rise from the city’s shantytowns to music stardom, he is exploited by sleazy music executives and abused by the police, eventually turning into a gun-toting outlaw and martyred folk hero.
The spirit of the film is captured in the enduring lyric from the movie’s renowned title song: “I’d rather be a free man in my grave, than living as a puppet or a slave.”
“When I came to Kingston I lived in areas that were gangster-infested,” he said in a 2022 interview with The Observer of Britain. “And to be quite honest, the only thing that stopped me from joining those gangs full-time was I didn’t know where I would bury my head if my family heard that I was in Kingston firing a gun.”
It won Cliff a wide base of fans, many of whom bought the movie’s soundtrack, which included You Can Get It If You Really Want and The Harder They Come, as well as Cliff’s Many Rivers to Cross and Sitting in Limbo.
I had watched The Harder They Come movie before Jimmy Cliff came to Zimbabwe, two years after Bob Marley had performed here courtesy of Musekiwa Kumbula, who had intercepted him from Lusaka in Zambia where he had just finished performances. I met him with the then Radio 3 DJ, Mike Mhundwa but I did not get the opportunity to interview him about his film.. There was a lot of confusion regarding his performances in Zimbabwe as another overseas band, Osibisa was booked to perform in Zimbabwe during the same time when there was only one viable P.A. system in the country to deliver those shows.
In September 1983, Jimmy Cliff was booked to perform at Barbourfields Stadium in Bulawayo. He would follow this by giving a performance at Rufaro Stadium in Harare the following week. However, Zimbabwe had only one P.A. system to carry such big concerts. Mike Lhundwa, Billy Tanhira and myself went to the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Recreation to hire the only P.A. system in the country which had enough power output of 40,000 watts capable of delivering enough decibels to crowds of more than 5,000 people in the stadiums we expected to stage the Osibisa concerts. We asked Wiseman, a sound engineer to assist us in rigging the P.A. system.
At the ministry, we had no problems at all in securing this hire. Dumisani ‘Abraham’ Maraire (Chiwoniso’s father) was in charge of this side of business.
We signed the contract for the hire of the P.A. system . We put our signatures to the P.A. hire form and Maraire also put his signature to the form. He gave us our copy of the contract. We paid for the hire and that was the end of business for that day. The first concert with Osibisa was to be held on a Saturday afternoon at Sakubva Stadium in Mutare. We were told that we could only pick up the P.A. system from the (now defunct) Ministry of National Supplies which was under the then minister, Simbi Mubako, in Coventry Road on the Friday.
On the Friday, Mike Mhundwa and I went to the Ministry using one of Mhundwa Transport trucks in order to transport the P.A system first thing the next morning for a concert destined to start at 2pm Billy Tanhira had gone to the airport to pick up members of Osibisa and to arrange their accommodation. We later met at their hotel in the evening.
Around 5pm on the Friday, Billy received a phone call from Maraire asking him to cancel the collection of the hired P.A. system as the Ministry of Youth had changed its mind. Apparently another artiste, Jimmy Cliff who had just completed a show in Lusaka, Zambia, was in town and Uzziel Mankola, who also worked with the Ministry had persuaded Jimmy Cliff to stage a rushed charity show in Bulawayo. Their only problem was how to get the P.A system which they had hired to us for the Osibisa concerts to do the Jimmy Cliff concert in Bulawayo. Billy told them that we had already paid for the hire and collected the P.A. system and that it was on its way to Mutare.
Uzziel Mankola could not buy this. He said to Maraire: “This is our P.A system and we are the government. Nobody tells us we can’t have our property when we want it!”
The next morning we left for Mutare in three cars with members of Osibisa. We laughed at how ridiculous we thought the Ministry had been by asking us to return the P.A. system they had hired to us.
When we reached Mutare, Wiseman started working at Sakubva stadium where he connected the system. At 12pm, the band was ready for a sound –check. They did this for one hour before we broke up to go to Manica Hotel for lunch.
While having lunch, some kid came to us and told us that there was an emergency at the stadium and we should rush back. Mike and I decided to go there while leaving the rest of the team enjoying their lunch. In Sakubva Stadium we were surprised to see a helicopter which had landed there with Maraire, Uzziel Mankola and three policemen. One of the policemen, Assistant Inspector Moyo addressed me very aggressively: “You are under arrest. You are charged with stealing government property. This P.A. system. We are taking it by helicopter to Bulawayo now and you are going to be in the cells until you appear in court on Monday.”
I asked him: “Where and how did we steal the P.A. system? Can you explain to us why we would advertise a concert in Mutare over the last three weeks without making sure that we have put the right logistics in place?”
Inspector Moyo came again: “That is not my business. My business is to take this P.A. system from you and the courts will sort you out.”
Music fans had begun to gather outside the stadium, ready for the concert. We did not know whether to let them in or not because of this dispute. Fortunately, I had the signed contract in my car. I showed it to Inspector Moyo and pointed at Maraire, then uttered: “Ask this man if that is not his signature on this contract. Also ask him if we also stole the letterhead on which the contract is written.”
Inspector Moyo was embarrassed. He looked at the contract and read it slowly in disbelief. He then turned to Maraire and said: “My friend this is a civil matter. You misinformed me that these people had broken into government premises and stole the P.A. System. You did not mention a signed contract which I am discovering for the first time now. We assigned our special unit to give us a helicopter as there was an urgent criminal job to be undertaken, wasting government resources. Mr Zindi, my apologies to you.”
Apparently Maraire wanted the helicopter so that they could fly the P.A. system to Bulawayo where Jimmy Cliff was waiting to do a concert. The police were used to put fear in us so that we would surrender the P.A. system. We stood our ground. The team left for Bulawayo empty-handed. I was later told that the Jimmy Cliff concert went ahead but the sound quality was poor as the Ministry eventually hired a smaller P.A. system from Amkhosi in Bulawayo. Such is life!
The official funeral for late reggae icon Jimmy Cliff took place on Wednesday, December 17, at the National Indoor Sports Centre, in St. Andrew, Jamaica.Jamaican Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Olivia Grange made the announcement in a media release last week noting that Jimmy Cliff —was being honoured with an official funeral for “his immense contribution to Jamaican culture and entertainment’’.
Minister Grange said the service “provided an opportunity for the country to bid farewell to an outstanding son of Jamaica; and icon.” The ceremony featured only spoken word, dance, and music, in keeping with Cliff’s wishes.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness, in a statement following Cliff’s death, said the legendary musician’s work “lifted people through hard times, inspired generations, and helped to shape the global respect that Jamaica enjoys today.”
Widely regarded as one of Jamaica’s greatest musicians, Jimmy Cliff played a central role in popularizing reggae on the world stage. He was often described as rivalling Bob Marley in international prominence and influence within the genre.
Locally we also lost 69 year old legendary Sungura star,cultural icon and musician, Nicholas Madzibaba Zakaria A.K.A Senior Lecturer because he groomed so many artistes who became very big in Zimbabwean Music Industry. Such artistes include Alick Macheso and System Tazvida(Late) whose songs transcended entertainment to address social issues and everyday life, cementing his place in the country’s musical heritage.
He was buried last Sunday (the 14 th December) at Bare in Chiweshe as thousands of fans, family members, and fellow musicians gathered at Chibuku Stadium to honour his life and legacy. Huge crowds thronged the stadium to bid farewell to their hero, the Sungura star Nicholas Zakaria, who entertained the nation for over four decades.
A sombre yet celebratory atmosphere marked the send-off of sungura music legend Madzibaba Nicholas Zakaria,
Alec Macheso said: “This man is like a father to me. For me to be what I am today. His impact on my life is immense. He nurtured me from the days I started till to date. I pay my respects to you, father and brother, and mentor’’.
Government officials also paid their last respects to the Senior Lecturer:. “The arts sector has lost a legend. A lot of talent that we see today was nurtured by Madzibaba Nicholas Zachariah. We are saddened by his death,” Deputy Minister of sports, recreation, arts and culture, Honourable Emily Jesaya said.
“He might be gone, but his legacy lives on. His songs were teachings, giving guidance to families. He was a teacher par excellence. He was a counsellor par excellence. The story of why he is considered a Senior lecturer speaks about his experience with other musicians whom he worked with,” Minister of Skills Audit and development, Dr Paul Mavhima said.
Nicholas Zakaria will be remembered for his timeless music and the powerful messages that continue to inspire generations.
Feedback: [email protected]
