The Star Who Saw Clearly

Music legend Johnny Nash dies aged 80

- Christopher Bucktin

Johnny Nash’s greatest hit was I Can See Clearly Now – and he did have a keen eye for talent, signing Bob Marley and teaching him to sing.

Nash, who has died aged 80, fell in love with reggae when he moved to Jamaica from his native US in the mid-1960s.

There he formed JAD Records with Danny Sims, signing Marley and other members of The Wailers before they rose to international fame.

Sims once said of Nash: “Johnny loved reggae, and he loved Bob and the guys.

“He taught Bob how to sing on the mic, and they taught Johnny how to play the reggae rhythm.”

Born in 1940 in Houston, Texas, he began his lifelong love of music in the Baptist church.