Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Wins Best Reggae Album Grammy—But He’s Not Satisfied
When the Beatles imagined being over the hill and out of it, they sang a song called “When I’m Sixty-Four.” But reggae legend Jimmy Cliff has reached that ripe old age and he says he’s “just getting started.” Cliff won the best reggae album Grammmy for his 2012 release, Rebirth, outdoing stiff competition from The Original Wailers, Sean Paul, Sly & Robbie, and Toots and the Maytals. But he’s not satisfied with being nominated… or even with winning. Jimmy Cliff wants to win on TV. “It’s a nice thing to be nominated for a Grammy,” he told CBSNews.com. “However, I do think that people ought to see me on TV, accepting the Grammy. Not the way it is being done at the moment for a reggae Grammy where you just hear about it. It’s about time they show me on TV.” Read More After The Jump…
With 81 categories, not all of the winners can be announced on live television—especially when live performances are what drive ratings. But Cliff is not trying to hear that. After winning several other honors, the star of The Harder The Come is not easily intimidated. “When I was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame [in 2010] I already knew in my spirit that it was a rebirth time for Jimmy Cliff to come forward again on the scene,” he said. “That was a stepping stone to push me forward to what’s happening right now. The music kind of went back to the roots of my music — from ska, to rock steady to reggae. It’s all full circle.”
“The Harder They Come’ really put me in the ears and eyes of the people,” he said. “That’s what I intend to do right now in this ‘rebirth’ period of my career. I was at the beginning of the reggae music. When I came into the reggae music at 14 years old, there was no music called ‘reggae.’ I contributed to creating a music called reggae. I toured all over the world. I was the first to go to the Far East, Japan, South America, Africa — and the United States. That’s been my role in the music industry. And I’m just getting started.”
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This seems like a no-brainer. It definitely should be, and I’m surprised to hear that it’s not, honestly. There are so many channels that show stuff of much lesser significance.
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