Marley, Bob (1945–1981)

Robert Nesta Marley was born on February 6, 1945, in the Nine Miles settlement in the northern Jamaican parish of St. Ann. Marley, one of the early pioneers of reggae music, which originated in Jamaica, brought the genre to international acclaim during the early 1970s with the groundbreaking album Catch a Fire. His musical genius combined with his revolutionary lyrics and Rastafarian faith stamped his music with a moral and spiritual integrity that spoke to oppressed people worldwide. Simultaneously a militant freedom fighter and a unifier who saw beyond the dividing lines of race and class, Marley remains one of the most enduring figures in the struggle for human equality and justice.

Although born to an older well-off British father, Captain Norval Sinclair Marley, and a young Jamaican mother, Cedella Malcolm, Bob Marley faced the same daily struggles as Jamaica's impoverished masses. Confronted with the disapproval of his wealthy white family, Norval left Cedella shortly before the birth of their child, never contributing to the upkeep of his son. While Marley saw his father on only a few occasions, he received the full love and attention of his mother's close-knit family. During his early teens, he moved to Kingston with Cedella and her new husband, Toddy Livingstone, and his son Bunny. Bunny and Marley were not only stepbrothers and boyhood friends; they would also go on to found their first band together.

At the young age of 16, Marley recorded his first self-composed tracks, “Judge Not” and “Do You Still Love Me” for Leslie Kong's label, Beverly's. Although not big hits with the public, Marley continued to perfect his singing abilities. In 1963, under the legendary singer Joe Higgs's direction, Marley combined forces with Bunny, Peter Tosh, and Junior Braithwaite to form “The Wailers.” Their first single, “Simmer Down,” became an instant number one hit in Jamaica.

The year 1964 witnessed a stream of almost monthly releases by the Wailers. Recording constant hits for the Studio One Label, but getting paid very little, Marley, along with his band mates, decided to put an end to their economic exploitation by forming their own label. This same year he married Rita Anderson, who had previously collaborated with him on the duet “Oh, My Darling.” The day after the wedding, he left Jamaica to join his mother, who had by then relocated to Wilmington, Delaware. There he gained employment at a Chrysler automobile factory in the hopes of saving enough money to return to Jamaica and get his embryonic record label off the ground.

During Marley's sojourn in America, Haile Selassie I, the emperor of Ethiopia, made his historic 1966 visit to Jamaica, where members of the Rastafarian religion regarded him as their God. Rastafarianism had sprouted up in Jamaica after native son Marcus Garvey prophesied that the redeemer would be a black king who was soon to be crowned in Africa. Shortly thereafter, in 1930, Selassie I was crowned king; Rastafarians regarded this as the fulfillment of Garvey's prophecy and regarded Selassie I as the black messiah. Upon his return to Jamaica in October of [Page 903]1966, Marley converted to Rastafarianism, following the lead of his band mates and wife, who had already converted. It was at this time that Marley started growing his famed dreadlocks, in keeping with the Rastafarian tradition of not cutting or combing the hair. With the modest savings he had accrued in Delaware, Marley launched the “Wail 'n Soul 'm” label and record store out of his home in Kingston's rough-and-tumble Tenchtown neighborhood.

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