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Jimmy Cliff
Jimmy Cliff starred in and provided much of the soundtrack for 1972's The Harder They Come, a Jamaican film that became internationally influential in introducing reggae music to audiences well beyond Jamaica and the Caribbean, particularly in the United States and United Kingdom. His songs "The Harder They Come" and "You Can Get It If You Really Want," both featured prominently in the film, became international hits that helped establish reggae as a commercially viable genre for global audiences years before Bob Marley's own international breakthrough later in the decade. Cliff's musical style incorporated a broader range of influences than some of his contemporaries, blending reggae with soul, gospel, and pop songwriting sensibilities in a way that gave his music a somewhat different, more crossover-friendly sound than the more strictly roots-reggae approach of artists like Peter Tosh. His continued international touring and recording across more than five decades, along with his role in The Harder They Come specifically, established Cliff as one of the foundational figures in bringing reggae to global prominence, and he remains one of only a small number of reggae artists inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
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Toots Hibbert
Toots Hibbert, frontman of Toots and the Maytals, is widely credited with coining the term "reggae" itself in his band's 1968 song "Do the Reggay," one of the earliest recorded uses of the word to describe the emerging musical style that would go on to become one of the most globally significant genres to originate from Jamaica. His gospel-influenced, soulful vocal style, developed from singing in church as a child, gave Toots and the Maytals a sound distinct from some of their more strictly roots-reggae contemporaries, incorporating American soul and R&B influences alongside traditional Jamaican ska and rocksteady rhythms. The band's 1972 song "Pressure Drop," later covered by numerous other artists across multiple genres, became one of the most widely recognized and frequently covered reggae songs outside Jamaica, helping introduce the group's sound to international audiences during reggae's broader global emergence in the early 1970s. Toots continued actively recording and touring for more than five decades, including a 2020 Grammy-winning album released shortly before his death later that same year, giving him one of the longest sustained active careers of any major reggae artist and cementing his role as a foundational figure whose contributions predate even Bob Marley's own rise to international fame.
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