I Can See Clearly Now' Singer Johnny Nash Has Died At 80

[IceWizard]

I Can See Clearly Now' Singer
Johnny Nash Has Died At 80

October 7, 202012:33 PM ET


Johnny Nash, a singer who scored a No. 1 hit with
"I Can See Clearly Now" in 1972, has died. He was
80 years old. His son, Johnny Nash Jr., confirmed
his death to The Associated Press, saying his
father had died of natural causes at his home
In Houston.

Along with his own pop career, Nash had a surprising
hand in the development of reggae. As one of the
owners of the JAD Records label, he signed Bob Marley,
Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer to an exclusive deal early
In their careers.

Nash was born Aug. 19, 1940, in Houston. In the 1950s,
he made a string of albums for ABC-Paramount
Featuring dreamy pop ballads that highlighted his
Perennially sweet voice, including his first charting
song, a cover of Doris Day's "A Very Special Love"
in 1958. He also started working as an actor and
starred in the 1959 film Take a Giant Step.


By 1965, Nash and his manager, Danny Sims, had
formed their own record label, first called JoDa and
later renamed JAD
(including a third partner, Arthur Jenkins).
Two years later, Nash and Sims relocated to Jamaica.

Nash recorded a number of his own sides there — but
even more importantly, he heard a young singer
named Bob Marley, whom JAD promptly signed
to a publishing deal along with signing Marley's trio,
the Wailers, as recording artists.

However, JAD couldn't manage to break reggae in the
United States. In 1972, the label sold Marley's contract
to Chris Blackwell and Island Records. But four songs
written by Marley appear on the album I Can See
Clearly Now: "Guava Jelly," "Comma Comma,"
"You Poured Sugar on Me" and the album's opening
track, "Stir It Up."


Nash never replicated the commercial success of
"I Can See Clearly Now" — a lilting, joyous and
reggae-tinged hit that he wrote and was later c
covered by musicians from Jimmy Cliff to Donny
Osmond.

Nash released his last studio album, Here Again,
in 1986; it contained a single that went to No. 47
on the U.K. singles chart. The singer withdrew
from the music business and into a quiet life in
Texas.