Bob Marley

Bob Marley is an outstanding person in the world history of music. The unique character of his works is reached by the combination of genius of music and true love to people and God. He was not only a great musician, but also an active Rastafarian. Bob Marley (full name - Robert Nesta Marley) was born in the small village in Jamaica. His father Norval Sinclair Marley was a white English Jamaican and his mother Cedella Booker was a black Jamaican, so Bob faced racial prejudice from early childhood. His love to music appeared when he was a teenager. He played music together with Neville Livingston (known as Bunny Wailer), Joe Higgs and Peter McIntosh (known as Peter Tosh). In 1962, Marley recorded his first singles, Judge Not and One Cup of Coffee. In 1963 Bob Marley, Bunny Livingston, Peter McIntosh, Junior Braithwaite, Beverley Kelso, and Cherry Smith formed a ska and rocksteady band The Teenagers, and later changed the name to The Wailers. In 1966 Marley married Rita Anderson and moved to the United States, but in a short time he returned to Jamaica and became a Rastafarian.

As for the music, Marley started working with Lee Perry and his band The Upsetters. In 1973 The Wailers recorded their first album Catch a Fire and it gained great success. A year later they created their next album Burnin' (1974), which included the hits Get Up, Stand Up and I Shot The Sheriff. In 1974 The Wailers broke up and its members went on with their solo careers. In 1975 Marley recorded a smаsh-hit No Woman, No Cry from the Natty Dread album. The musician became famous in the US in 1976 with the album Rastaman Vibration. In December 1976, some days before a political concert, Marley, his wife and his manager Don Taylor were wounded by a gunman in Marley's house, but Bob performed at the concert in spite of this. In 1976 Marley moved to England and recorded Exodus with its hits Exodus, Waiting In Vain, Jamming and One Love.

The questions of World Peace and racial equality were of great interest for Marley. In 1978 he performed at one more political concert in Jamaica. Не made political rivals shake hands on the stage. Many of his singles were devoted to political issues. The album Survival (1979) with its songs Zimbabwe, Africa Unite, Wake Up and Live and Survival was created to support the struggles of Africans. In the same year he performed at the Amandla Festival in Boston and came out against South African apartheid. Marley truly believed in God and many of his tracks, such as Redemption Song and Forever Loving Jah from the album Uprising (1980) were concerned with religion. In July 1977 Marley got a terrible diagnosis – cancer, and as his religion was against any operations he refused surgical treatment. He went on performing on the stage, and gave his final concert in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on September 23, 1980. Marley wanted to spend the last days of his life in Jamaica, but while flying home he had to lend in Miami to get treatment and died in its hospital on May 11, 1981 at the age of 36. Many of his albums were released posthumously including Legendary (2001), Legend Remix Edition (2002) and Africa Unite: The Singles Collection (2005). In 1994 Marley's name was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. For millions of his fans Marley is not only a great musician but also a spiritual leader. His contribution to music and the issues of racial equality and World Peace is beyond description.