Bob Marley (1945

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"Unreleased Interview on Music, People, and Acceptance" — c. 1978

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Biography

Robert Nesta Marley was a Jamaican singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, he fused elements of reggae, ska, and rocksteady, and was renowned for his distinctive vocal and songwriting style. Marley increased the visibility of Jamaican music worldwide and became a global figure in popular culture. He became known as a Rastafarian icon, and he infused his music with a sense of spirituality. Marley is also considered a global symbol of Jamaican music, culture and identity and was controversial in his outspoken support for democratic social reforms. Marley also supported the legalisation of cannabis and advocated for pan-Africanism.

Timeline

The story of Bob Marley, told in moments.

1945 Birth

Born Robert Nesta Marley in Nine Mile, Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica. His mother is 18, Black, Jamaican. His father is 50, white, a plantation overseer of English descent. The father is mostly absent.

Your father was 50, white, mostly absent. Did that absence shape your music? What was Nine Mile like for a mixed-race child in Jamaica?

1963 Life

Forms the Wailers with Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer in Trenchtown, Kingston. They're teenagers making ska and rocksteady in a government housing project. Their first single, "Simmer Down," goes to number one in Jamaica.

Three teenagers in Trenchtown making ska. Did you feel the revolution starting? What was Peter Tosh like in those early days?

1973 Event

Signs with Island Records. Catch a Fire and Burnin' in the same year. Chris Blackwell gambles that a Jamaican act can sell internationally. He gives them a rock-album marketing budget. Reggae leaves the island.

Chris Blackwell gambled that a Jamaican act could go global. Were you confident or scared? Did signing with Island Records feel like selling out?

1976 Event

Shot twice at his home on Hope Road, Kingston, two days before a free concert meant to ease political violence. His wife Rita is shot in the head. His manager is hit. Marley plays the concert anyway, for 80,000 people. He lifts his shirt on stage to show the bandages.

You played for 80,000 people two days after being shot. Why? Lifting your shirt to show the bandages on stage. What were you proving?

1977 Event

Exodus. Recorded in London while in exile from Jamaica. "Jamming," "One Love," "Waiting in Vain." Time magazine will later name it the greatest album of the 20th century.

Exodus was recorded in exile. Did London change the sound? Is it really the greatest album of the 20th century?

1978 Life

One Love Peace Concert in Kingston. He brings rival political leaders Michael Manley and Edward Seaga onto the stage and joins their hands above his head. A photograph of three men and one impossible gesture.

Joining the hands of Manley and Seaga. Did you believe it would last? Was that gesture political or spiritual?

1981 Death

Dies in Miami, traveling home to Jamaica. Melanoma, first found under a toenail in 1977. He refused amputation on religious grounds. He is 36. Jamaica gives him a state funeral. The coffin holds his Gibson Les Paul guitar and a Bible opened to Psalm 23.

You refused amputation on religious grounds. Would you make that choice again? The guitar, the Bible, and Psalm 23 in your coffin. Who chose those?

In Their Own Words (20)

Today, people struggle to find what's real. Everything has become so synthetic that a lot of people, all they want is to grasp onto hope.

As quoted in Rolling Stone's The Immortals (2004) "Bob", 2004

We don't have education, we have inspiration; if I was educated I would be a damn fool.

As recorded in Time Will Tell (1992), a documentary by Declan Lowney, 1992

Every man gotta right to decide his own destiny.

Zimbabwe, from the album Survival (1979), 1979

And what has been hidden from the wise and the prudent been revealed in the mouth of the toddlers.

Forever Loving Jah, 1979

All dese governments and dis this and that, these people that say they're here to help, why them say you cannot smoke the herb? Herb... herb is a plant, you know? And when me check it, me can't find no reason. All them say is, 'it make you rebel'. Against what?

As recorded in filmed interview (1979) with Dylan Taite in Aotearoa, New Zealand, 1979