Looking back on a legend
2005-02-03 09:26
Fred Walter
Credited not only with spreading reggae around the globe but for peacemaking and popularising the Rastafarian religion, music legend Bob Marley would have turned 60 this Sunday.
For two decades after his death, music lovers old and young alike continue to venerate the pop music icon.
Early roots
Robert Nesta Marley was born on February 6 1945 in the small Jamaican village, Nine Miles.
He was the son of a white middle-aged British Naval Officer and a teenaged Jamaican woman. Marley's father's family disapproved of the interracial relationship and even though his parents were married, Marley only saw his father occasionally.
He left home at the age of 14 to pursue a music career in Kingston, Jamaica.
By age 16, Marley had recorded his first single Judge Not. In 1963, he formed The Wailers which went on to achieve their first Jamaican number one with the single Simmer Down.
Marley married his wife Rita during February 1966.
That same year, a visit by late Ethiopian Emperor Haile Sellasie inspired The Walers to adopt the Rastafarian religion. Rastafarians venerate Sellasie as an incarnation of God.
The Wailers signed on with the Island record label, recording and releasing the album Catch a Fire in April 1973, which propelled them onto the international arena.
Attempt on his life
A string of successful albums led to international fame and back home he was viewed as a living legend as well as a political figure, whose words captivated the nation.
In 1976, armed gunmen, thought to be the henchmen of the opposition leader Edward Seaga, stormed into Marley's house in Jamaica, shooting and wounding him, his wife and his manager.
No-one was killed and only days later Marley appeared defiantly with his arm in a sling at a concert coinciding with government elections in Jamaica.
His best-selling record to date was the 1977 album Exodus, which included all-time hits such as Jamming, Waiting in Vain and One Love/People Get Ready.
First sign of trouble
In 1977 Marley was diagnosed with cancer, forcing him to cancel the last concerts of his European tour. The cancer was believed to have been caused by an untreated football injury which developed into a cancerous melanoma on the big toe of his right foot.
Marley the peacemaker
On April 22 1978 Marley performed at the One Love Concert, marking the truce between the leaders of Jamaica's two opposition groups.
At the concert, Marley persuaded Prime Minster Manley and opposition leader Seaga to join him on stage and shake hands.
The following year, Marley received the UN Peace Medal in New York for this peacemaking feat.
Final days
Bob Marley headlined the independence celebrations in Zimbabwe in 1980 and in September of the same year, collapsed while jogging in Central Park. The cancer had spread to his lungs, brain and liver.
In spite of his ill health, Marley flew to Pittsburg to perform at the Stanley Theatre on September 23 1980. It was Marley's last concert performance.
Bob Marley, aged 36, died on May 11 1981 in Bavaria, Germany where he was receiving cancer treatment. His body was laid to rest in a specially constructed mausoleum in his birth village, Nine Miles.
Thirteen years after his death, Marley was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. U2 leadsinger Bono gave the induction speech in January 1994.
On the eve of his 60th birthday, Marley's widow Rita confirmed that there were plans to re-bury the late reggae superstar's remains in Ethiopa - according to his wishes.
Buy the Best of Bob Marley now.
- News24