Some days are harder than others. Johnny Nash, famed reggae and pop music singer-songwriter, best known for his 1972 hit, “I Can See Clearly Now” passed away today at the age of 80.
Nash had been in declining health. Born in Houston, Texas, he was one of the first non-Jamaican singers to record reggae music in Kingston, Jamaica.
Nash’s 1972 reggae influenced single “I Can See Clearly Now” sold over one million copies, and was certified gold by the RIAA in November 1972. It reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on November 4, 1972, and remained atop the chart for four weeks, and also spent the same four weeks atop the adult contemporary chart. The song returned to the charts via a cover by Jimmy Cliff.
Nash scored other hits, including most notably a cover of Bob Marley’s “Stir It Up.”
There is something incredibly ironic that, given the news of the past seven days in the pandemic-riddled year of 2020, that Nash should be remembered with those words, “It’s gonna be a bright, bright, sunshiny day…”