The Legend of Bob Marley

Nesta Robert “Bob” Marley was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. Born in the village of Nine Mile in Saint Ann Parish, on February 6, 1945 and died on May 11 1981. He was the rhythm guitarist, lead singer for the Ska, Rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers 1963 till 1981. Marley remains the most widely known and revered performer of reggae music. He is credited for helping spread both Jamaican music and the Rastafari movement to the rest of the world. His music was heavily influenced by the social issues of his homeland and is considered to have given voice to the specific political and cultural nexus of Jamaica. Bob Marley is best known hits include “I Shot the Sheriff”, “No Woman, No Cry”, “Could You Be Loved”, “Stir It Up”, “Jamming”, “Redemption Song”, “One Love” and, together with The Wailers, “Three Little Birds”,[3] as well as the posthumous releases “Buffalo Soldier” and “Iron Lion Zion”. The compilation album Legend (1984), released three years after his death, is reggae’s best-selling album, going ten times Platinum (Diamond) in the U.S. and selling 25 million copies worldwide. In 1955, when Marley was 10- years- old, his father died of a heart attack at age 60. Marley faced questions about his own racial identity throughout his life. He once reflected: “I don’t have prejudice against meself. My father was a white and my mother was black. Them call me half-caste or whatever. Me don’t dip on nobody’s side. Me don’t dip on the black man’s side nor the white man’s side. Me dip on God’s side, the one who create me and cause me to come from black and white.” Bob Marley was a member of the Rastafari movement, whose culture was a key element in the development of reggae. He became an ardent proponent of Rastafari, taking their music out of the socially deprived areas of Jamaica and onto the international music scene. Bob Marley once gave the following response, which was typical, to a question put to him during a recorded interview: As observant Rastafari practice Ital, a diet that shuns meat, Marley was a vegetarian. Ends