02/01/2019
Bob Marley was born on February 6,
1945, in Nine Miles, Saint Ann,
Jamaica, to Norval Marley and
Cedella Booker. His father was a
Jamaican of English desceJamaican of English descent. His
mother was a black teenager.
The couple planned to get married
but Norval left Kingston before this
could happen. Norval died in 1955,
seeing his son only once.
Bob Marley started his career with
the Wailers, a group he formed with
Peter Tosh and Bunny Livingston in
1963. Marley married Rita Marley in
February 1966, and it was she who
introduced him to Rastafarianism.
By 1969 Bob, Tosh and Livingston
had fully embraced Rastafarianism,
which greatly influence Marley's
music in particular and on reggae
music in general.
The Wailers collaborated with Lee
Scratch Perry, resulting in
some of the Wailers' finest tracks
like "Soul Rebel", "Duppy
Conqueror", "400 Years" and
"Small Axe." This collaboration
ended bitterly when the Wailers
found that Perry, thinking the
records were his, sold them in
England without their consent.
However, this brought the Wailers'
music to the attention of Chris
Blackwell, the owner of Island
Records.
Blackwell immediately signed the
Wailers and produced their first
album, "Catch a Fire". This was
followed by "Burnin'", featuring
tracks as "Get Up
Stand Up" and "I Shot the Sheriff."
Eric Clapton's cover of that song
reached #1 in the US.
In 1974 Tosh and Livingston left
the Wailers to start solo careers.
Marley later formed the band "Bob
Marley and the Wailers", with his
wife Rita as one of three backup
singers called the I-Trees.
This period saw the release of
some groundbreaking albums, such
as "Natty Dread", "Rastaman
Vibration".
In 1976, during a period of spiraling
political violence in Jamaica, an
attempt was made on Marley's life.
Marley left for England, where he
lived
in self-exile for two years. In
England "Exodus" was produced,
and it remained on the British
charts for 56 straight weeks. This
was followed by another successful
album, "Kaya." These successes
introduced reggae music to the
western world for the first time,
and established the beginning of
Marley's international status.
In 1977 Marley consulted with a
doctor when a wound in his big toe
would not heal. More tests revealed
malignant melanoma. He refused
to have his toe amputated as his
doctors recommended,
claiming it contradicted his
Rastafarian beliefs. Others,
however, claim that the main
reason behind his refusal was the
possible negative impact on his
dancing skills.
The cancer was kept
secret from the general public
while Bob continued working.
Returning to Jamaica in 1978, he
continued work and released
"Survival" in 1979 which was
followed by a successful European
tour.
In 1980 he was the only foreign
artist to participated in the
independence ceremony of
Zimbabwe.
It was a time of great success for
Marley, and he started an American
tour to reach blacks in the US.
He played two shows at Madison
Square Garden, but collapsed Square Garden, but collapsed while
jogging in NYC's Central Park on
September 21, 1980. The cancer
diagnosed earlier had spread to his
brain, lungs and stomach. Bob
Marley died in a
