Bob+Marley

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 * __Bob Marley

Bob Marley was born Nesta Robert Marley on February 6, 1945 in Nine Mile, Saint Anne, Jamaica. He was born to Norval Sinclair Marley, a Jamacian of British Decent, and Cedella Booker, a Jamacian black women. His father was a captain in the [|Royal Marines] and supported his family, but was seldom around because he was always on trips. When Bob was 10, his father died of a heart attack at the age of 60 and left his mother to care for him alone. Because of his mixed decent, he was often bullied and teased as a child. This is something that caused him to often reflect upon how he felt about his own people and culture. He began to see that he viewed himself as a black African. This is shown in many of his later work, with songs such as "Black Redemption" and "Black Survivor".

At the age of 14, Marley started playing music with his friend "Bunny" Livingston. He soon dropped out of school and became to make music with local musician, [|Joe Higgs], who was also a devout Rastafari. He began to record and soon released his first two singles in 1962 with help of local Leslie Kong. They had little recognition. In 1963, Marley and five friends started a ska, rocksteady band they named "The Teenagers". After many name changes, they finally settled on the name "The Wailers". In 1966, three members left the band leaving only Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Wailer. Later that year Marley married Rita Anderson and moved to Delaware to be closer to his mother. While in Delaware he worked factory and lab jobs under the allias Donald Marley.

In the late 1960's, after returning to Jamacia, Marley joined the and began to sport his trademark Dredlocks. His faith was something else that also began to define Marley. His music was soon seen in the genre of [|reggae], which was developed mainly by the Rastafarian culture. In the Rasta community he became a leader based on the fact that he was making their culture more widespreadly known. He brought reggae from the rundown streets of Jamaica to the international music scene. He then took reggae to England in 1976 where he lived in exile for two years. While there he recorded the albums //Exodus// and //Kaya. Exodus// was on the British album charts for 56 weeks straight. From this album came one of his most widely known songs [|One Love]. Exodus also went on to be named the greatest album of the 20th century by Time Magazine, with Jimi Hendrix's album Are You Experienced? coming in as a runner up.

Bob Marley was someone who stood up for what he believed in. He participated in many charity concerts and was an activist for peace everyday of his life. He once said, "the people who are trying to make this world worse aren't take a day off. How can I?" Many things attempted to stand in his way of success, one of which was a shooting by an unknown gunman. in 1967, open shots were fired on Marley, his wife, and his manager. Although his wife and manager had serious injuries, they made a full recovery. Marley himself had minor injuries and procedded to perform in a charity concert two days later. There were always people standing in his way and even when his band, "The Wailers", were M.I.A. he continued to perform. The fact that he has been publicly shown as a man who smoked marijuana also stood in his way and caused him to be viewed as a controversial person and still does. Many people see this as a negative thing, but it isn't. Marley smoked as a way to grow closer to Jah, as believed by the Rasta faith.

When Marley was 32 a form of melanoma was found in a wound that formed on his toe during a soccer match with friends. Three years later in 1980, Marley completed a full European tour with a show in Milan that is now known as the largest rock concert ever with over one hundred thousand people attending. He then performed two shows in New York to begin a new tour, but the rest of the tour was soon cancelled when his health began to fail greatly. The cancer had spread to the rest of his body. For eight months he fought the cancer using alternative methods at the Bavarian Clinic of [|Josef Issels]. When the treatment failed to work he returned to Jamaica, but on the flight home he was in need of immediate medical attention. His plane landed in Miami and died in Cedars of Lebanon Hospital on the morning of May 11, 1981, at the age of 36. His lasts words "Money can't buy life" to his son Ziggy.

Bob Marley has taught me that even coming from a small, run down town on a tiny island can't stop you from achieving your dreams. Also, that in the end, what matters the most is love and peace. This world has so much evil and hate that all we can do is fight it with love. In the words of Marley himself, there is only "one love, one heart." His legacy still lives on now and will continue to the future. In 1994 Marley was inducted into the [|Rock and Roll Hall of Fame], nearly 13 years after his death. He has been honored with a star on the hollywood walk of fame and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. His music is something that everyone that can relate to and always will be able to.