A biography of Bob Marley

Bob Marley - born Robert Nesta Marley - was a reggae musician who hailed from Jamaica. A committed Rastafarian, he infused many of his songs with a distinctly spiritual air. Over the course of his career, he sold over 75 million singles and albums, thus becoming one of the best-selling artists in the world. He has been honoured posthumously on many occasions; in 1994, for example, he was admitted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and five years later, Time Magazine named his 1977 record ‘Exodus’ as the Album of the Century.

Marley was born on his grandfather's farm in St Ann's Parish on 6 February 1945, to Cedella Booker and Norval Sinclair Marley. He developed a love of music at an early age. He and one of his childhood companions, Neville O'Riley Livingston (affectionately known as 'Bunny'), devoted much of their free time to learning about music, and it was Bunny who encouraged Marley to take up the guitar. Their friendship grew stronger after Marley's mother and Livingston's father began a romantic relationship, which led to all four of them living in Kingston together.

In Kingston, Marley resided in an impoverished area called Trench Town. Struggling to make ends meet, he sought comfort in the town's music scene. During this period of his life, he discovered the songs of many great American performers, including The Drifters, Fats Domino, Elvis Presley and Ray Charles. Marley and Bunny also attended singing classes, and learned the basic principles of melody, harmony and rhythm. Their teacher introduced them to a young man named Peter Tosh, and in 1963 the trio decided to form a band called The Teenagers; this group would eventually change its name to The Wailers.

Their first single - which they produced with the help of the label Studio One - was entitled 'Simmer Down', and spoke directly to the youths living in Jamaica's ghettos. It sold approximately 80,000 copies. The group released a string of subsequent hits, including 'One Love', 'I'm Still Waiting', and 'Rude Boy'.

The Wailers developed a strong following in Jamaica; however, they found it difficult to support themselves financially and, in the mid-1960s, they drifted apart. Marley travelled to the United States to visit his mother; while there, in 1966, he met and married a woman named Rita Anderson. After spending eight months in the US, Marley and his new wife returned to Jamaica, and The Wailers reformed. At this stage in his life, Marley started to take an interest in spirituality, and found himself intrigued by the Rastafarian movement, which had begun in the 1930s in Jamaica.

The Wailers went on to set up a record label, called Wail n' Soul’m, in Trench Town. Although the band released a number of successful singles under this label, such as 'Mellow Mood' and 'Bend Down Low', a lack of financial support led to it being shut down in 1968.



At the turn of the next decade, politically-motivated violence, rationed food supplies and soaring unemployment rates were all prevalent issues in Jamaica; these concerns were close to Marley's heart, and he began to explore them frequently in the songs that he wrote. In 1970, two new members joined The Wailers; brothers Carlton and Aston Barrett, a drummer and bassist. The band's big break came just two years later, when they were signed to Chris Blackwell's famous label, Island Records.

This was the group's first ever opportunity to record a full album; the end result, which they named 'Catch A Fire', was an enormous success, and led to them spending an entire year touring. Throughout 1973 they performed in many venues around both the US and Britain, serving as the opening act for Sly & the Family Stone, as well as Bruce Springsteen. That same year, their second album was released. 'Burnin' featured the famous song 'I Shot The Sheriff', which was a huge hit and ended up reaching the number one spot in the American charts.

Marley’s wife Rita and two other female vocalists joined the band during the early 1970s, and the group was renamed Bob Marley and The Wailers. They toured frequently throughout this decade, and became particularly popular in Africa, Scandinavia and the UK. They enjoyed great success with several of their songs, including 'Satisfy My Soul', 'Waiting In Vain', 'Exodus' and 'No Woman No Cry', all of which reached the top 40 in the UK charts.

At the pinnacle of his career, Marley had a number of traumatic experiences. As a result of his outspoken ways, an attempt was made on his life in 1976. His health then went into decline in 1980; after collapsing during a jog, it was found that he had cancerous tumours in his liver, lungs and brain. The disease took his life just eight months after it was first discovered; he died on 11 May 1981 at the University of Miami Hospital (formerly known as Cedars of Lebanon Hospital). Ten days later, his funeral was held. At the service, Edward Seaga, the Prime Minister of Jamaica, delivered a eulogy in which he described the musician's voice as an “omnipresent cry”, and noted that Marley would be a part of his country's collective consciousness forever.

Like millions of others, the businessman Tunde Folawiyo enjoys listening to Marley's music (you can find out more about this entrepreneur's interests by visiting this page on SlideShare). As such, he is probably aware of the fact that Marley is still considered to be a cultural icon, despite having died more than three decades ago. His music has been recognised numerous times over the past 33 years; one of the most notable of these honours was a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, bestowed on Marley posthumously by the Recording Academy in 2001.

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