Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician Bob Marley was born as Robert Nesta Marley on 6th February 1945 in Nine Mile, St Anne Parish and passed away on 11th May 1981. He was married and had 11 children.
Whilst in high school, Bob began to play music with a friend and in later years, after moving to another town, continued to explore new music genres like ska and R & B. He then created a vocal group named The Teenagers, which changed name 3 more times, the final one being The Wailers, and even started to learn the guitar with the help of a friend.
In early 1962, Bob recorded 4 songs and a couple of years later, together with the Wailers, released the number one Jamaican hit single ‘Simmer Down’ which managed to sell around 70,000 copies.
In 1966, Marley got married, moved to the US and for a short while worked as a lab assistant as well as a fork lift operator. He then returned to his native Jamaica, converted from Catholic to Rastafarianism and starting growing dreadlocks. Meanwhile, Bob’s band joined another group but it lasted less than 12 months.
Then, in 1969, Jamaican popular music changed into a slower beat, so in 1970, Bob and his band recorded an album in this new reggae style, which was however, released over a year later. The group then changed their record company, went to London and toured the country.
Returning back home to Jamaica, The Wailers released two more albums, one of which featured the song ‘I shot the Sheriff’. In 1974, the group split and Bob proceeded with his career as a solo artist and a year later had his first international hit ‘No Woman, No Cry’.
Once again, Marley went to the UK and recorded 2 albums which featured the hits ‘ One Love’ and ‘Jamming’. Afterwards, he went back to Jamaica to perform in a concert. His final album came out in 1980.
Bob died on 11th May 1981 at the age of 36 from cancer resulting from a malignant melanoma diagnosed 4 years earlier. He received several awards and honours, most of them after his death. These include a Peace Medal of the Third World, A Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and a Jamaican Order of Merit Award, amongst others. Marley was also inducted in both the Rock and Roll and the Black Music & Entertainment Halls of Fame as well as received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Various countries paid him tribute with his statues, books, documentaries and movies about his life, musicals and street names. He is considered as one of the founders of reggae music plus a worldwide figure of Jamaican music, identity and culture, as well as and one of the best-selling music artists of all time.
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