32 Years Gone-Still Celebrating Bob Marley

On May 11th 1981 at the age of 36, curtains fell on the life of the great Robert Nesta Marley, Reggae marvel in a Miami hospital where he was receiving treatment for cancer. It’s been 32 years since and His legacy lives on through his music, children, clothing merchandise, graffiti, his Rastafarian ideologies and fans across the world. On February 6th 1945 in Nine Miles, St. Anne Parish, Jamaica, the first international superstar from the ‘Third World’-Robert ‘Bob’ Nesta Marley was born.

After initially working as a welder’s apprentice, he ventured into music in a vocation that saw him sell over 20 million records in his entire career. The son of Cedella Booker, a black teenage mum and Norval Marley, a much older white absentee father, Bob went on to join Peter Tosh and Bunny Livingston to form The Wailers band in 1963. Some of their hits included “Soul Rebel”, “Duppy Conquerer”, “400 Years” and “Small Axe.”

The dreadlocked Marley later formed ‘Bob Marley and the Wailers’ with his wife Rita who also introduced him to Rastafarianism. Marley toured extensively in Europe, Africa and the United States as his career peaked with his becoming a world figure. He was the only foreign artist to perform during Zimbabwe’s independence celebration in 1980.

So which of his biggest hits are your most favorite tracks? “No woman no cry”, “Could you be loved”,” I don’t wanna wait in vain” and many more of his songs are forever embedded in memories the world over as classic hits. Jah Rastafari!

REPORT BY Mark Namaswa