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Marley Biography
Robert Nesta Marley OM, a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter, lived from 6 February 1945 to 11 May 1981.
His musical career was characterized by the fusion of reggae music, ska, and rocksteady as well as his unique vocal and songwriting style.
He is regarded as one of the pioneers of reggae music. Marley’s contributions to music elevated Jamaican music’s profile internationally and cemented his place in modern popular culture.
Marley developed a reputation as a Rastafari icon throughout the course of his career and incorporated spirituality into his songs. Bob Marley is know for his dreadlocks.
In addition, he is revered as a universal icon of Jamaican music, culture, and identity. He also stirred controversy with his outspoken advocacy of democratic social reforms. Marley survived a home assassination attempt in 1976 that was allegedly carried out for political reasons.
Additionally, he promoted Pan-Africanism and legalized marijuana. Marley, who was born in Nine Mile, Jamaica, started his professional musical career in 1963 by founding the Teenagers with Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh, who later changed the group’s name to the Wailers.
The Wailing Wailers, the group’s debut studio album, was released in 1965. It contained the single “One Love,” a cover of “People Get Ready,” which became a global hit and established the group as a rising reggae star. After joining Island Records, The Wailers went on to release another eleven studio albums under the moniker Bob Marley and the Wailers.
The group started writing songs with rhythmic structures in the late 1960s and early 1970s, around the time Marley converted to Rastafari, after initially using louder instrumentation and vocals.
During this time, Marley moved to London, and the group released the album The Best of The Wailers, which reflected their musical transformation (1971). The group’s touring in promotion of the albums Catch a Fire and Burnin’ helped them start to attract attention on a global scale (both 1973).
A year after the Wailers split up, Marley continued to perform under the group’s moniker. The 1974 album Natty Dread garnered favorable reviews. After the success of Eric Clapton’s cover of Bob Marley’s “I Shot the Sheriff” around the world in 1975, Marley achieved his first international success with a live performance of “No Woman, No Cry” from the Live! album.
His breakthrough album in the US, Rastaman Vibration (1976), which peaked at number 50 on the Billboard Soul Charts, came next. Marley moved permanently to London after surviving an attempted murder at his Jamaican home a few months after the album’s debut.
Legend, a collection of greatest hits, debuted in 1984 and quickly rose to the top of the reggae album charts. [15] With an estimated 75 million album sales globally, Bob Marley is one of the best-selling musicians of all time.
Soon after his passing, Jamaica bestowed upon him a recognized Order of Merit as a posthumous honor. He was admitted to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. On its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, Rolling Stone listed him as the No. 11 artist.
His additional accomplishments include being inducted into the Black Music & Entertainment Wall of Fame, receiving the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Bob Marley Biography Profile
The Summary Of Bob Marley Profile
| Full Name: | Robert Nesta Marley |
|---|---|
| Other Name: | Donald Marley · Tuff Gong |
| Wife: | Rita Anderson Marley (married. 1966) |
| Children: | (11) kids including: Sharon, Cedella, David “Ziggy”, Stephen, Rohan, Julian, Ky-Mani, Damian |
| Partner: | Cindy Breakspeare (1977–1978) |
| Date Of Birth: | 6 February 1945 |
| Place Of Birth: | Nine Mile , Saint Ann Parish , Colony of Jamaica |
| Dead: | 11 May 1981 Miami, Florida , US |
| Age: | 36 |
| Height: | 5 ft 7 in (1.72 m) |
| Nationality: | Jamaican |
| Country: | Jamaica |
| Gender: | Male |
| Marital Status: | Married |
| Occupation: | Singer, Musician, Guitarist, Songwriter |
| Genres: | Reggae, ska, rocksteady, folk |
| Instruments: | Vocals, guitar, percussion |
| Lebels: | Beverley’s, Studio One, JAD, Wail’n Soul’m, Upsetter, Tuff Gong, Island |
| Years Active: | 1962–1980 |
| Net Worth In Dollar: | $32 Million (USD) |
| Net Worth In Euro: | €31 Million |
| Net Worth In Naira: | ₦22,400,000,000 Billion (NGN) |
| Net Worth In South Africa Rand: | 576,505,664 (ZAR) |
| Net Worth In Kenya Shilling: | 3,983,684,896 (KES) |
| Net Worth In Ghana Cedi: | 393,571,840 (GHS) |
| Net Worth In Rupee: | ₹2,650,052,800.00 (INR) |
| Net Worth In Pound: | £25,942,400 (GBP) |
| Website: | Bob Marley Official Website |
Bob Marley Personal Life
Bob Marley spent some time as a part of the Rastafari movement, whose culture was crucial to the growth of reggae. He developed became an ardent supporter of Rastafari, bringing its music from Jamaica’s impoverished neighborhoods to the world of popular music.
He identified as a Rastafarian and believed that Haile Selassie of Ethiopia was a manifestation of “Jah,” or God.
On November 4, 1980, a few days before his passing, Archbishop Abuna Yesehaq baptized Marley into the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in front of his wife Rita Marley and their kids, giving him the name Berhane Selassie.
As a Rastafarian, Marley backed the legalization of marijuana, often known as “ganja,” which Rastafarians consider to be a meditative aid. When Marley switched from Catholicism to the Rastafari beliefs in 1966, he started smoking marijuana.
He was found with marijuana in 1968 and was taken into custody, but he persisted in using marijuana because it was allowed by his religion. On his marijuana use, he stated, “Herbs disclose their true selves to you when you smoke them.
When herbs force you to meditate, they cause all the wickedness you do to expose itself to you, your conscience, and make you appear clear. only natural thing that develops like a tree.” Marijuana use, in Marley’s opinion, is essential for spiritual development and establishing a relationship with Jah.
Marley was a pan-Africanist who believed in the solidarity of all Africans. His opinions were derived from his Rastafari religious convictions. He was heavily influenced by Marcus Garvey, and several of his compositions, including “Zimbabwe,” “Exodus,” “Survival,” “Blackman Redemption,” and “Redemption Song,” contained anti-imperialist and pan-Africanist themes.
In “Redemption Song,” Marcus Garvey alludes to a 1937 address he gave in Nova Scotia. Marley believed that the liberation of African nations from European hegemony was a victory for everyone living in the African diaspora.
Similarly, in the song “Zimbabwe,” he celebrates the liberation of the entire African continent and calls for unity among all Africans, both inside and outside of Africa. He sings of a desire for all peoples of the African diaspora to come together and fight against “Babylon” in “Africa Unite.”
Bob Marley Family Members
On February 10, 1966, Bob Marley wed Alpharita Constantia “Rita” Anderson in Kingston, Jamaica. Four of Marley’s children were born to his wife Rita, two others were adopted from Rita’s romances, and he also fathered many more children with other women. On his official website, Bob Marley lists 11 children.
Those listed on the official site are:
- 1. Sharon, born on November 23, 1964, was Rita’s child from a previous relationship, but Marley adopted her after they wed.
- 2. Cedella, Rita’s child, was born on August 23, 1967.
- 3. Rita gave birth to David “Ziggy” on October 17, 1968.
- 4. Rita gave birth to Stephen on April 20, 1972.
- 5. Robert “Robbie,” born to Pat Williams on May 16, 1972
- 6. Rohan, born to Janet Hunt on May 19, 1972
- 7. Janet Bowen gave birth to Karen in 1973.
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8. Stephanie, born on August 17, 1974; she was identified as Marley’s daughter despite Cedella Booker claiming that she was Rita’s child with a man named Ital with whom Rita had an affair.
9. Julian, born to Lucy Pounder on June 4, 1975 - 10. Ky-Mani, born to Anita Belnavis on February 26, 1976
- 11. Damian, born to Cindy Breakspeare on July 21, 1978
Bob Marley Association With Football
Apart from music, association football was a significant aspect of his life. Growing up, in addition to playing the sport in parking lots, fields, and even recording studios, he supported English football club Tottenham Hotspur and Argentine midfielder Ossie Ardiles, who played for the team from 1978 for ten years.
He also followed the Brazilian club Santos and its star player Pelé. Marley surrounded himself with athletes and hired Jamaican international footballer Allan “Skill” Cole as his tour manager in the 1970s. You’ll have to play football against me and the Wailers if you want to get to know me, he told a reporter.
Bob Marley Life and Career
Norval Sinclair Marley and Cedella Malcolm welcomed Robert Nesta Marley into the world on February 6, 1945, on the farm of Robert’s maternal grandfather at Nine Mile, Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica.
Originally from Crowborough, East Sussex in England, Norval Marley lived in Clarendon Parish during the time. When Norval married Cedella Malcolm, an Afro-Jamaican who was 18 years old at the time, he was working as a plantation supervisor, despite his claims to have been a captain in the Royal Marines.
Bob Marley’s full name is Robert Nesta Marley, though some sources list Nesta Robert Marley as his birth name. According to the legend, a Jamaican passport official reversed Marley’s first and middle names when he was still a boy because Nesta sounded similar to Robert.
Although Norval supported his wife and child financially, he rarely saw them because of his frequent absences. Bob Marley attended the Saint Ann catchment area’s Stepney Elementary and Junior High School.
When Bob Marley was 10 years old, his father, who was 70 at the time, passed away from a heart attack.
Marley now has two half-brothers named Richard and Anthony thanks to his mother’s later marriage to American government servant Edward Booker.
Neville Livingston, also known as Bunny Wailer, and Bob Marley were boyhood pals in Nine Mile. When they were students at Stepney Elementary and Junior High School, they began to perform music together.
When he was 12 years old, Marley relocated to Trenchtown in Kingston with his mother. She and Thadeus Livingston, Bunny Wailer’s father, had a child together, named Claudette Pearl, who was both Bob and Bunny’s younger sister.
The new ska music and the most recent R&B from American radio stations whose transmissions reached Jamaica were now part of Marley and Livingston’s musical excursions while they shared a home in Trenchtown.
Along with Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer, Marley founded a vocal group. The group’s multiple names included Teenagers, Wailing Rudeboys, Wailing Wailers, and finally just the Wailers. Nearby resident Joe Higgs, who was a member of the popular vocal duo Higgs and Wilson, inspired Marley.
Marley and the others were more interested in being a vocal harmony group at the time and did not play any instruments. Higgs started teaching Marley how to play the guitar and assisted them in refining their vocal harmonies.
Bob Marley Music Career
For local music producer Leslie Kong, Marley recorded four songs in February 1962 at Federal Studios: “Judge Not,” “One Cup of Coffee,” “Do You Still Love Me?” and “Terror.”
The album Beverley’s featured the publication of three of the songs, including “One Cup of Coffee,” which was issued using the alias Bobby Martell.
The Teenagers were a group that included Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer, Peter Tosh, Junior Braithwaite, Beverley Kelso, and Cherry Smith in 1963. Later, they adopted the names Wailing Rudeboys, Wailing Wailers, and finally the Wailers after being discovered by record producer Coxsone Dodd.
With the Coxsone label, their song ” Simmer Down ” debuted at No. 1 in Jamaica in February 1964 after selling an estimated 70,000 copies.
The Wailers were working with well-known Jamaican musicians like Roland Alphonso, Jackie Mittoo, and Ernest Ranglin, who composed “It Hurts To Be Alone,” and they were now frequently recording for Studio One.
When Braithwaite, Kelso, and Smith left the Wailers in 1966, Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer, and Peter Tosh remained as the core group.
Marley moved close to his mother’s house in Wilmington, Delaware after getting married to Rita Anderson in 1966. During this time, he worked as a DuPont lab assistant, on the assembly line, and as a forklift operator at a Chrysler plant in nearby Newark, all while using the alias Donald Marley.
In an effort to popularize the Wailers’ sound, Bob and Rita Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Wailer re-cut some vintage tunes with JAD Records in Kingston and London between 1968 and 1972. These tracks “should never be released on an album,” according to Bunny, who later claimed that they were merely demos for record companies to hear.
Bob and Rita paid musician Jimmy Norman a visit in 1968 at his Bronx apartment. The Rolling Stones recorded Kai Winding’s “Time Is on My Side” with extra lyrics penned by Norman, who also wrote for Johnny Nash and Jimi Hendrix.
A 24-minute tape of Marley singing some of his own and Norman-compositions Pyfrom’s was the outcome of a three-day jam session with Norman and others, including Norman’s co-writer Al Pyfrom.
According to reggae archivist Roger Steffens, this tape is unique in that it was influenced more by pop than reggae in an effort to get Bob Marley onto the American charts. Marley experimented with several sounds on the tape, adopting a doo-wop style on “Stay With Me” and “the languid love song manner of 1960s musicians” on “Splish for My Splash,” according to a report in The New York Times.
Marley, a musician who had not yet made a name for himself outside of his native Jamaica, resided in Bloomsbury’s Ridgmount Gardens in 1972.
Bob Marley began a UK tour in 1972 with soul singer Johnny Nash after signing a record deal with CBS Records in London. The Wailers requested that Brent Clarke, their tour manager, introduce them to Chris Blackwell, whose Island Records had acquired several of their Coxsone records.
During the meeting, the Wailers expected to talk about the royalties related to these albums; instead, they were instead presented with an offer of a £4,000 advance to record an album.
Island’s best reggae performer Jimmy Cliff recently left the label, therefore Blackwell was looking for a replacement. Blackwell saw in Marley the ingredients required to hook the rock crowd: “Rock music, which was actually rebel music, was what I was dealing with.
I believed that was the best method to popularize Jamaican music. However, you required a substitute for that image. As Bob entered, he truly embodied that description.” In order to record at Harry J’s in Kingston, the Wailers went back to Jamaica, and the result was the album Catch a Fire.
Blackwell gave Marley his Kingston home and business headquarters at 56 Hope Road (formerly known as Island House) during this time. The building, which housed Tuff Gong Studios, served as both Marley’s residence and office.
The Wailers were supposed to open 17 of Sly and the Family Stone’s US concerts. The band was sacked after four gigs because their popularity exceeded that of the acts they were opening for. Each of the Wailers’ three primary members pursued a solo career after the group’s dissolution in 1974.
Bob Marley & The Wailers carried on recording despite their breakup. Alvin “Seeco” Patterson played percussion, Junior Marvin and Al Anderson played lead guitar, Tyrone Downie and Earl “Wya” Lindo played keyboards, and brothers Carlton and Aston “Family Man” Barrett played drums and bass, respectively.
Junior Marvin and Al Anderson also played in his new backing band. Marcia Griffiths, Rita Marley, and Judy Mowatt made up The “I Threes,” who sang background vocals. With a live rendition of “No Woman, No Cry” from the Live! album, Marley achieved his first success outside of Jamaica in 1975, giving him his first major international breakthrough.
His breakthrough album in the US, Rastaman Vibration (1976), which peaked at number 50 on the Billboard Soul Charts, came next.
In 1979, the combative and politically charged album Survival was released. Songs like “Zimbabwe,” “Africa Unite,” “Wake Up and Live,” and “Survival” showed Marley’s support for Africans in their hardships.
His performance at the Amandla Festival in Boston in July 1979 demonstrated his fervent opposition to South African apartheid, which he had already demonstrated in his song “War” from the previous year.
He received an invitation to play at the 17 April commemoration of Zimbabwe’s Independence Day in the early 1980s. Bob Marley’s final studio album, Uprising (1980), including “Redemption Song” and “Forever Loving Jah,” two of his most spiritual songs.
Confrontation, a posthumous album released in 1983, featured previously unreleased recordings made during Bob Marley’s lifetime, including the smash song “Buffalo Soldier” and fresh versions of tracks that had previously only been sold in Jamaica.
List Of Bob Marley Songs and Music
Below are the Album’s Of Bob Marley.
- The Wailing Wailers (1965)
- Soul Rebels (1970)
- Soul Revolution Part II (1971)
- The Best of the Wailers (1971)
- Catch a Fire (1973)
- Burnin’ (1973)
- Natty Dread (1974)
- Rastaman Vibration (1976)
- Exodus (1977)
- Kaya (1978)
- Survival (1979)
- Uprising (1980)
- Confrontation (1983)
Bob Marley music very popular across the world, you can listen to it on SoundCloud. If you also want to download his music on your smart device you can go to Boomplay. For iPhone users you can enjoy Bob Marley music on Apple Playlist. If you are also a user of Shazam, you can get his music on Shazam. Bob Marley media representative also have account on Deezer where you can stream free music online. If you love to download it on your device for free, you can get the mp3 audio on Trendybeat while video lovers can stream Bob Marley music videos on YouTube.
Causes Of Bob Marley
Marley received a malignant melanoma diagnosis under a toenail in July 1977. According to urban legend, this lesion was not primarily brought on by a football-related injury that year, but rather was a sign of an earlier cancer.
Before a biopsy was performed, which proved acral lentiginous melanoma, he had to see two doctors. Unlike to other melanomas, which typically develop on sun-exposed skin, acral lentiginous melanoma develops in areas that are simple to overlook, including the soles of the feet or under toenails.
Despite being the most prevalent melanoma in individuals with dark skin, it is not well-known and was not covered in the most frequently used medical textbook at the time.
Marley, citing his religious convictions, refused his doctors’ advice to amputate his toe, which would have hampered his performing career. Instead, the nail and nail bed were removed, and a skin graft was taken from his thigh to cover the area.
He was planning a 1980 global tour while still performing and touring despite being unwell. Uprising, an album, was released in May 1980. The band recently finished a lengthy European tour, during which it performed in front of 100,000 spectators in Milan, Italy. After the tour, Marley traveled to the US and gave two performances as part of the Uprising Tour at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
His cancer had progressed to his brain, lungs, and liver when he fell while jogging in Central Park and was transported to the hospital. Two days later, on September 23, 1980, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at the Stanley Theater (now the Benedum Center For The Performing Arts), Marley performed his final performance.
The sole known images from the performance were featured in Marley, a 2012 documentary film by Kevin Macdonald. Marley’s health started to decline shortly after that since his cancer had spread to every part of his body.
The remainder of the tour was postponed, and Marley sought care at Josef Issels’ clinic in Bavaria, Germany. There, he underwent the Issels treatment, an alternative cancer therapy that is partially based on avoiding particular foods, beverages, and other substances.
Bob Marley boarded a flight back his home in Jamaica after eight months of unsuccessful treatment for his spreading cancer. Marley’s vital signs grew worse as we flew. He was taken to Cedars of Lebanon Hospital (later University of Miami Hospital) after landing in Miami, Florida, for immediate medical care.
In May 11, 1981, at the age of 36, he passed away there from melanoma that had spread to his lungs and brain. On May 21, 1981, Marley was accorded a state funeral in Jamaica that incorporated Rastafari and Ethiopian Orthodox themes.
In his casket were his red Gibson Les Paul guitar, a Bible that was open to Psalm 23, and a stalk of marijuana that had been placed there by his widow Rita Marley. He was laid to rest in a chapel not far from where he was born in Nine Mile.
Bob Marley Legacy
- 1976: Rolling Stone Band of the Year
- June 1978: Awarded the Peace Medal of the Third World from the United Nations.
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February 1981: Awarded the Jamaican Order of Merit ,
then the nation’s third highest honour. -
March 1994: Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of
Fame. -
1999: Album of the Century for Exodus by Time
magazine. - February 2001: A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
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February 2001: Awarded Grammy Lifetime Achievement
Award. -
2004: Rolling Stone ranked him No. 11 on their list of the
100 Greatest Artists of All Time. - 2004: Among the first inductees into the UK Music Hall of Fame.
- “One Love” named song of the millennium by BBC.
-
Voted as one of the greatest lyricists of all time by a
BBC poll. - 2006: A blue plaque was unveiled at his first UK residence in Ridgmount Gardens, London, dedicated to him by the Nubian Jak Community Trust and supported by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.
- 2010: Catch a Fire inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame (Reggae Album).
- 2022: Inducted into the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame.
Bob Marley Tribute
To honor him, a statue was unveiled on Arthur Wint Drive in Kingston, next to the national stadium. The East Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn’s Church Avenue, which runs from Remsen Avenue to East 98th Street, was co-named “Bob Marley Boulevard” in 2006 by the New York City Department of Education.
In Banatski Sokolac, Serbia, a statue of Marley was unveiled in 2008. Over the world, indigenous tribes continue to be affected by Bob Marley’s message. For instance, his art is highly regarded by the Hopi and Havasupai tribes of North America.
Also, there are other memorials to Bob Marley in India, including eateries, lodgings, and cultural events. Through a multitude of mediums, Marley has developed into a universal icon that has been continually merchandised.
In light of this, author David Thompson laments what he regards as the commercialization of Marley’s more militant edge in his book, Reggae and Caribbean Music, stating. The 2015 Man Booker Prize was awarded to Jamaican novelist Marlon James’ fictional depiction of the attempted killing of Bob Marley in October 2015 at a ceremony in London.
Get Up, Stand Up! will debut in February 2020. Author Lee Hall and director Dominic Cooke announced The Bob Marley Musical, featuring Arinzé Kene as Bob Marley. Following a postponement due to the COVID-19 epidemic, it had its world premiere at London’s Lyric Theatre on October 20, 2021.
Bob Marley Estate and Properties
Marley’s music and image rights brought in hundreds of millions of dollars for his heirs in the decades after his passing. According to reports, annual revenue from licensing fees, both legal and illegal, exceeds $500 million.
The estate only gains from transactions that are approved (legal). Now, the estate provides the family with $25–$30 million in royalties each year. Bob Marley would be personally worth well over $200 million if he were still alive today.
Regrettably, Bob passed away without leaving a will, allegedly because his Rastafarian religion forbade him from accepting his own mortality by drafting something resembling a will.
According to Jamaican law, the widow receives 10% of the inheritance when a person passes away “intestate,” or without a will.
The widow can eventually amass an extra 45% share of the estate, for a total of 55%, over time. The remainder shall be evenly shared among the children who are living. Also, the complete 100% control is distributed among his living children after Rita passes away.
In the end, the Jamaican court ruled that Chris Blackwell, the head of Bob Marley’s record label Island Music, would continue to be in charge of the Marley estate. Up until 2001, Rita Marley and his 11 acknowledged legitimate offspring had complete control of the estate through Island Logic Ltd.
Bob Marley Net Worth
The net worth of Bob Marley is estimated to be around $32 Million US Dollar, he archived his wealth from his professional music career. Bob Marley is one of the richest musician in the history of the world. The net worth of Bob Marley in European currency is around €31 Million Euro while in Nigeria currency, it is approximately around ₦22,400,000,000 Billion, the naira currency of his net worth is calculated on (19/02/2023) according to estimated Dollar to Naira conversation at Nigeria black market Bureau De Change.
Bob Marley net worth in pound is approximately about £25,942,400 (GBP), his net worth in other Africa countries is also available here. When his net is converted into South Africa currency, it’s going to be around 576,505,664 (ZAR). His net worth in Ghana currency is equivalent to about 393,571,840 (GHS). Bob Marley net worth in Kenya currency is probably going to be around 3,983,684,896 (KES). His net worth in India currency is currently about ₹2,650,052,800.00 (INR).