Keith Richards shares heartfelt tribute to Jimmy Cliff: “The sweetest voice, the sweetest soul”

Posted On November 26, 2025November 26, 2025

The Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards has paid a heartfelt tribute to the late Jamaican icon Jimmy Cliff.

On November 24th, Cliff’s wife, Latifa, confirmed the sad news of her husband’s death. The hitmaker, best known for ‘I Can See Clearly Now’ and ‘You Can Get It If You Really Want’, died due to a seizure followed by pneumonia.

Latifa wrote, “I am thankful for his family, friends, fellow artists and coworkers who have shared his journey with him. To all his fans around the world, please know that your support was his strength throughout his whole career.”

Since then, figures ranging from the Jamaican Prime Minister, Andrew Holness, to Cat Stevens have honoured Cliff’s legacy.

Richards, who has a long history with Cliff, shared a photo of them in the studio alongside a handwritten note, which reads, “Farewell Jimmy, I was in Jamaica when The Harder They Come was in every cinema on the island.”

The guitarist added, “You could feel the pride and and the love for Jimmy everywhere. The sweetest voice, the sweetest soul. His music will live with us forever! Heartfelt condolences to his family!”

He concluded by writing, “One love, Keith”.

Notably, the two musicians have a long history which dates back to the 1970s when Richards first started to frequent Jamaica on a regular basis. Then, in the 1980s, Cliff provided backing vocals on The Rolling Stones’ song, ‘Too Rude’, from 1986’s Dirty Work.

“He wrote some of the most beautiful ballads that ever came out of Jamaica,” Richards previously said when talking about the influence of the reggae star. “Unbeatable songs, and the voice of an angel, you know?

Richards’ comments come after Mick Jagger took to social media on November 25th to write, “So sad to lose the beautiful voice of Jamaica, Jimmy Cliff.”

Additionally, their Rolling Stones bandmate, Ronnie Wood, described it as  “very sad news” and proudly shared, “I made an album with him, Jimmy, in Kingston, Jamaica – a song called ‘Peace Officer’ among others.”

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