Bob Marley1



Bob Marley

Bob was born February 6, 1945 in Nine Mile in the parish of St.Ann, Jamaica to Norval & Cedella Marley.

In 1961, at the age of sixteen, Bob released his first song, Judge Not, which did not do well. He continued to pursue a career in music and in 1965, he formed a group called The Wailers with Bunny Livingstone and Peter Tosh. Bob acted as front man for the group and wrote most of the groups material. The trio released Simmer Down, Rule Them Rudie and It Hurts To Be Alone, all of which were hits in Jamaica.



1966 Bob Marley had married Rita Anderson and the next year Bob and Ritas first child, Cedella, was born. In 1967 Bob and Rita had their own recording label called 'Wail N Soul M'. Their next child, David was born in 1968. The Wailers continued to release singles without producing an album.

In 1976 the 'Rolling Stone Magazine' named Bob Marley and the Wailers the Band of the Year. Reggae fever had swept the United States. On December 3, 1976, Bob his wife and two friends were attacted in Bob's house, fortunately nobody died. Bob Marley and the Wailers went on to produce their next album, Exodus, in 1977. The release of this album made Bob to a international superstar. Later, in May of the same year, Bob found out that he had cancer in his toe. Doctors recommended that he have the toe removed, but he refused, this was against his Rastafarian beliefs. In 1978, the band released another album, Kaya. Later that year he received a Peace Medal of the Third World form the United Nations. Bob also traveled to Africa for the first time, making stops in Kenya, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe.

The band went touring throughout the US and Europe and produced a few more albums, including Uprising. However, in 1980, Marley fell gravely ill. The cancer in his toe had spread upwards through his body and had infected his liver, stomach and brain. In September, Bob fainted during a concert in New York City. The next day he collapsed while jogging through a park and was rushed to the hospital. The tumor in his brain had greatly enlarged and that Bob had less than a month to live.

Bob wanted to continue the tour, and he performed a spectacular show in Pittsburgh on September 22. The concert was canceled the next day. Five days later, in a last attempt to save his life, Bob flew to a controversial treatment center in Germany with Rita. Three month later on May 11, 1981, Bob Marley died at the young age of 36.

Bob funeral was held in Jamaica on May 21, and hundreds of thousands of people attended, including the Prime Minister of Jamaica.