Singer Johnny Nash, the singer of 1972 hit I Can See Clearly Now, has died at the age of 80.
He died on Tuesday at his home near Houston, his son, Johnny Jr., confirmed to CBS Los Angeles.
Although modern audiences associate Johnny with reggae, he was born in Houston, Texas, and had a long career as a pop singer before recording his signature song.
His first hit, 1958′s A Very Special Love, hit number 23 on the US charts and was followed 10 years later with the top five hit Hold Me Tight, which was one of his first dabblings in Jamaican music.
Johnny was instrumental in popularising reggae and signed Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh to publishing and recording contracts, according to this website biography.
But Johnny’s best-known song is undoubtedly I Can See Clearly Now, a 1972 smash that topped the charts for four weeks straight in the US, and became a hit again in 1993 when Jimmy Cliff recorded it for the soundtrack of the movie Cool Runnings.
According to his bio, Johnny spent much of his last years transferring analog tapes of his songs from the 1970s and 1980s to Pro Tools digital format.
Besides his son, Johnny is survived by his wife, Carli.
