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 descent. His mother was a black teenager. The couple were married in 1944 but Norval left for Kingston immediately after. Norval died in 1957, seeing his son only a few times.
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 Conquerer", "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 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 Miami hospital on
May 11, 1981. He was 36 years old.
