Jimmy Cliff Put His Nineteen Children at the Center of His Life

Kingston, Jamaica, will pause on December 17 to celebrate the life of the late Jimmy Cliff, as the reggae legend is honored with an official, government-sponsored celebration of life at the National Indoor Sports Centre. Open to the public and livestreamed worldwide, the event will echo with the music of a man widely regarded as one of the founding patriarchs of Jamaican popular culture.

Cliff’s influence on global music is immeasurable. He helped introduce reggae to international audiences through his starring role in the 1973 film The Harder They Come, opened doors for Bob Marley early in his career, and inspired generations of artists across reggae and beyond. Following his death on November 24 at the age of 81, dancehall star Buju Banton summed up the sentiment of many when he described Cliff as “a true father and mentor.”

That description applied not only to his musical legacy but also to his personal life. Jimmy Cliff was the biological father of 19 children, and according to his family, fatherhood was central to who he was. One of his youngest daughters, Lilty Cliff, is expected to perform at the celebration of life, alongside reggae and dancehall luminaries including Beenie Man and Nadine Sutherland.

Public accounts of Cliff’s family have often focused on only two of his children, Lilty and her brother Aken, whom he shared with his widow, Latifa Chambers. His eldest daughter, Odessa Chambers, says it is important that the full picture be understood.

“We are very proud of our father, and we are very proud of each other,” Odessa told Rolling Stone from Kingston. “We are very proud of the love that we all share at the end of the day. We are going to honor his legacy, because we are his legacy.”

Odessa, now 53, was among those who had to help deliver the devastating news of Cliff’s passing to the rest of the family. She recalls waking up that Monday morning in shock, then making one of the most difficult calls of her life to her uncle Victor Chambers, Cliff’s older brother, longtime manager, and protector.

“He was a rock for my father,” she said. “It hurt me to be the one who had to break the news to him.”

She then reached out to her siblings through a shared WhatsApp group. Responses came from different corners of the world, some from Europe, some from Jamaica. What followed, she said, was silence.

Cliff maintained close and healthy relationships with all of his children and with their seven mothers throughout his life, Odessa said. He made a deliberate effort to ensure that all of his children knew one another and grew up as a family.

“He made sure that all of us knew each other,” she explained. “For the rest of my siblings, the other mothers are like our other mothers as well. There is no animosity.”

Odessa was born in South London to filmmaker Bluette Abrahams. Both Abrahams and Cliff were deeply committed Pan-Africanists, a worldview that shaped Odessa’s own outlook on life.

“One of the ways that they fell in love was through their love of the African continent and our people,” she said.

That philosophy extended into Cliff’s parenting. He frequently took his children with him as he traveled the world, ensuring they bonded not only with one another but also with the cultures and communities he encountered. In Jamaica, it was rare to see him without his children nearby.

“I just want the world to know that my dad was a family man,” Odessa said. “His family and his children were everything to him.”

Family gatherings often centered on Cliff’s Kingston home, affectionately referred to by his children as Baba’s house, Papa’s house, or Skip’s house. Though Odessa lived in London until she was 21, she spent nearly every school break in Jamaica surrounded by her siblings.

“When I used to have birthday parties, I didn’t need any friends because I had all my brothers and sisters,” she recalled.

Those years were filled with shared experiences, from trips to the cinema and arcades to beaches, mineral baths, circuses, and concerts. Cliff took them to major cultural events like Sting on Boxing Day, returning home at dawn to eat breakfast and debate the performances before finally falling asleep.

Cliff’s curiosity and youthful spirit never faded. Odessa remembers taking him to a Public Enemy concert at Brixton Academy during the group’s prime.

“I looked for my dad in the balcony, and the next minute he was down in the pit with the brothers jumping,” she said, laughing.

At 16, Odessa joined her father on a tour across the American west coast and the Pacific islands. The experience became a formative chapter in her life. Cliff involved her directly in the work, asking her to warm up crowds, sing background vocals from backstage, and assist his public relations team.

“There is nobody better than my dad live,” she said. “No reggae artist would top him. It is very difficult to perform after Jimmy Cliff.”

She credits that tour with shaping her later career in journalism, public relations, and marketing. Afterward, she worked in A and R and production at Island Records with Chris Blackwell, later moving into television production and hosting a music magazine show that featured artists such as Shaggy, Bounty Killer, and Vybz Kartel.

Despite his fame, Cliff did not push his children into the industry. In fact, Odessa said he often warned her about its pitfalls.

“He always said the entertainment industry is very seedy,” she recalled. “He would guide me to be careful and aware of opportunists.”

Cliff was also a devoted supporter of Odessa’s podcast, Reasonings With Odessa, particularly enjoying her interviews with artists such as Sean Paul and Sevana. In their final conversation, which lasted more than two hours, the two spoke not about careers but about spirituality, love, nature, and life itself.

“For me, it was never about the work,” she said. “It was just: let me have a chit chat with my dad, because it is just my dad.”

Odessa says her father was proud of all his children and their diverse paths. Among them are singer and actor Nabiyah Be, twin dancers Azza and Azama in Berlin, a nurse, an IT professional, a multimedia technician, and several creatives exploring music, production, and performance.

“All of us have some form of creativity somewhere,” she said. “We all sing along with our dad.”

As Jamaica prepares to celebrate Jimmy Cliff’s life, his children say they hope the world understands that his greatest legacy was not only the music he created, but the family he nurtured with intention, love, and unity.