Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981) was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers (1963–1981). Marley remains the most widely known and revered performer of reggae music, and is credited with helping spread both Jamaican music and the Rastafari movement to a worldwide audience.
He was born in a place which was a little village in Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica. His father was Norval Sinclair Marley, he was a white Jamaican who had been born in 1895 and had British parents from Sussex. Norval was a marine officer and later achieved the position o captain when he married Cedella Booker, a little girl of only 18 years of age, she, would later, become Bob Marley’s mother. Marley’s father afforded the life of his wife and son but he didn’t have too many chances to see them since he was on trip most of the year. Noval passed away when Marley was 10 years old dying from a heart attack at the age of 60 in 1955.
Not everything was peaceful in Bob Marley’s life, he was the aim of racial jokes and attacks when he was young, making him to question his racial identity through his life; he once expressed: “I don’t have anything against myself ; my mother was black and my father was white, I don’t go for any sides, I just stay in God’s side, he was the one who created me…”
Bob Marley and his mother moved to Kingston’s Trenchtown, this took place after Noval death; he was forced to learn self-defense since he had become the aim of several attacks since of his racial “makeup” and small stature, he was only 1,63 m. He started gaining reputation for his physical strength, this condition gave him the nick name of “Tuff Gong”. Bob Marley found a friend called Neville “Bunny” Livingston, who would late be known as Bunny Waller, both of them had a deep interest in music and that’s why they started playing together. Marley left school when he was 14 years old, an became an apprentice in a local welder’s shop; in his free time he, Joe Higgs, composed music. Higgs was a local singer and Rastafari, still regarded as Bob Marley’s mentor. During 1962, Marley recorded his first two songs with the local music producer Leslie Kong.: Jude Not and “One cup of Coffee”.'
During 1963, Bob Marley, Peter Mclntosh, Bunny Livingston, Beverley Kelso, Junior Brathwaite and Cherry Smith made a ska and rocksteady group, which had the name of "The Teenagers", later they’d change it to “the wailing Rudeboys”, then to “The wailing Wailers” and in the end they kept the name “The wailers”; in 1966 the members Kelso, Braithwaite and Smith decided to leave the band. Bob Marley took the role of leader singer and was the main songwriter; songs like Simmer Down topped the Jamaican Charts during 1964 turning The Wailers into one of the hottest bands in the country.In 1966, Bob Marley married Rita Anderson and decided to move near his mother’s house in Wilmington, Delaware for a couple of months. Later Marley would become a member of a Rastafari movement and started to wear his “trademark” with his records. The Wailers broke up in 1974 and three members started to perform solo careers; despite the break up, Bob Marley continue recording his albums with the name of “Bob Marley and The Wailers”; in 1975, he started to be popular out of Jamaica with the song “No woman, No Cry” from the Natty Dread album, this was followed by Rastaman Vibration, released in 1976 and spent four weeks on the Billboard charts Top Ten.
In 1977,Bob Marelywas diagnosed Cancer, he had a malignant melanoma on his right hallux (big toe); Marley refused to get an amputation, saying that the operation would probably affect his dancing. Marley decide to visit samfais, an alternative to medical doctors,since he believe he shouldn’t accept surgical possibilities. Later, the cancer bread to Bob marley’s brains ,lives, lungs, lungs and stomach, after playing two shows in the United States in the Madison Square Garden in 1980 he collapsed while Jogging in New York City. Yet, he became inmortal, and fans continue to grow in number all over the world since his music is and will be always ahead of the present time. In the picture on the left we can see one of the many tattos models, showing his well known shiny smile.
He is known for his performance and musician.of reggae music and became famous for making this style music popular out of Jamaica. He was considered a faithful rastafari, had different styles apart from reggae; he could also perform ska and rocksteady; his most successful songs among others are “I killed the Sherif”, “Three little birds”, “No woman, No cry”, “could you be loved”, “Exodus”, “Jamming” and “Redemption song.
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