How time flies! It looks just like yesterday but in actual fact, it has been 41 whole years since the passing of reggae legend, Robert Nester Marley, better known as Bob Marley, who died on May 11, 1981.
Born on February 6, 1945 in Nine Mile, Saint Ann Parish, Colony of Jamaica, Bob Marley was a Jamaican singer, musician and songwriter. Marley, who is a reggae superstar, is one of the pioneers of reggae music. His music is a unique fusion of reggae, ska, folk and rocksteady, delivered in a distinctive vocal way.
Marley began his professional musical career in 1963 at the age of 18, when he formed the group, the Teenagers, along with his buddies, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer. The name of the group underwent several changes before the youthful trio settled for the Wailers. The group’s debut studio album titled “The Wailing Wailers”, was released in 1965.
The album contained the hit single “One Love”, which announced the group as a rising figure in reggae because of its global popularity. The group’s name once again changed to Bob Marley and the Wailers after it had released 11 additional studio albums and they had signed with island Records.
In 1996, Marley converted from his Catholic faith and embraced Rastafarianism and this was reflected in the group’s style of music. The shift in their style of music was announced with the album “The Best of the Wailers” in 1971. With his conversion, Marley began to take cannabis. He was caught with the hard drug and arrested in 1968. This made him stop cannabis but he continued with the use of marijuana. At about this period, Marley relocated to London.
The group began to gain international prominence with the release of two albums — “Catch a Fire” and “Burning” — in 1973. By 1974 the band was disbanded but Bob Marley continued with the name, Wailers. That same year, “Natty Dread” was released and it received positive reception. He had his international breakthrough with “No Woman No Cry”, which was his first hit outside Jamaica. This was followed by “Rastaman Vibration”, which was also a breakthrough in the United States of America.
Rastaman Vibration, released in 1976, hit the Top 50 of the Billboard Soul charts. Marley survived an assassination attempt at his home in Jamaica, an act which made him relocate permanently to London. In London he released “Exodus” in 1977. The album enjoyed rave reviews and widespread commercial success.
In 1977, Marley was diagnosed with cancer which led to his death in 1981 at the age of 36. He received a state funeral, which is a serious honour. The album “Legend” was released posthumously in 1984 and it became the best-selling reggae album of all time. With an estimated sales of more than 75 million records worldwide, Marley ranks as one of the best-selling music artistes of all time.
He was awarded with a posthumous honour of Order of Merit by his country after his death. In 1994, he was inducted into the rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He also picked up a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award; the Black Music and Entertainment Walk of Fame as well as the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Today, May 11, 2022, Nigeria joins the rest of the world to celebrate the 41st year memorial anniversary of reggae superstar and legend, Robert Nester Marley.
