American singer & songwriter, Johnny Nash(best known in the United States for his 1972 hit “I Can See Clearly Now”) has died at the age of 80.
John Nash III, his son, told TMZ, “He was a wonderful father and family man. He loved people and the world. He will be missed in his community. The family was everything.” Johnny Nash died of natural causes at home in Houston, his son said.
Nash’s hit music, “I Can See Clearly Now” stayed at the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks in 1972. The song later returned to the charts when Jimmy Cliff recorded a version of it for the soundtrack for the 1993 movie Cool Runnings. Johnny was born in Houston and made his debut as a major label artist in 1957 with the single, “A Teenager Sings the Blues.”
Nash sold more than 1 million copies of the single, and it made him an international star, especially in Jamaica. where he became one of the first non-Jamaican singers to record reggae on the island.
Nash, additionally an actor and producer, was among the first artists to deliver reggae to US audiences. He peaked commercially within the late 1960s and early 1970s, when he had hits with Hold Me Tight, You Got Soul, an early version of Marley’s Stir It Up, and I Can See Clearly Now, still his signature tune.
Nash told Cameron Crowe, then writing for Zoo World Magazine, in 1973, “I feel that music is universal. Music is for the ears and not the age, There are some people who say that they hate music. I’ve run into a few, but I’m not sure I believe them.”
