NME Music News, Reviews, Videos, Galleries, Tickets and Blogs | NME.COM
Singer-songwriter Johnny Nash, best known for his 1972 hit song ‘I Can See Clearly Now’, has died, aged 80.
The reggae-pop musician died of natural causes on Tuesday October 6 at his home in Houston, Texas, his son Johnny Nash Jr. confirmed to CNN.
Born John Lester “Johnny” Nash, Jr. in Houston, Nash began releasing music in the late ’50s, making his major label debut with the 1957 song ‘A Teenager Sings the Blues’.
Upon the release of ‘I can See Clearly Now’ – largely called a comeback song at the time – the infectious hit sat at Number One for four weeks in the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
The song made a return to the Billboard charts in 1993, when it was recorded by Jamaican singer Jimmy Cliff for the soundtrack for the film Cool Runnings.
According to his official website, Nash helped the late Bob Marley sign a recording contract. He was also notably the first non-Jamaican to record reggae music in Kingston, Jamaica.
Nash was also the singer for the opening theme of the 1960s cartoon series The Mighty Hercules.
More recently, the singer had begun working on the transfer of old analogue tapes of his music from the 1970s and 1980s into a new digital format.
As well as his son, Nash is survived by his wife, Carli.
The post Johnny Nash, singer of ‘I Can See Clearly Now’, has died aged 80 appeared first on NME Music News, Reviews, Videos, Galleries, Tickets and Blogs | NME.COM.
