Robert "Bob" Nesta Marley OM (February 6, 1945 – May 11, 1981) was a Jamaican singer-songwriter, musician, and Rastafarian. He was the lead singer, songwriter and guitarist for the ska, rocksteady and reggae bands: The Wailers (1964 – 1974) and Bob Marley & the Wailers (1974 – 1981). In spite of dying nearly three decades ago he is the most widely known performer of ska/reggae music, and is credited for helping spread Jamaican music to the worldwide audience.[1]

Marley's best known hits includes "I Shot the Sheriff", "No Woman, No Cry", "Exodus", "Could You Be Loved", "Stir It Up", "Jamming", "Redemption Song", "One Love" and, together with The Wailers, ""Three Little Birds".[2], as well as the posthumous releases "Buffalo Soldier" and "Iron Lion Zion". The compilation album, Legend, released in 1984, three years after Marley's death, is the best-selling reggae album ever (10 times platinum[3]), with sales of more than 12 million copies.

Early life and career

Marley was born in the small village of Nine Mile in Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica as Nesta Robert Marley. A Jamaican passport official would later swap his first and middle names. His father, Norval Sinclair Marley, (born in 1895), was a white Jamaican of English descent, who lived in Liverpool. Norval was a Marine officer and captain, as well as a plantation overseer, when he married Cedella Booker, a black Jamaican then eighteen years old. Norval provided financial support for his wife and child, but seldom saw them, as he was often away on trips. In 1955, when Marley was 10 years old, his father died of a heart attack at age 60. Marley suffered racial prejudice as a youth, because of his mixed racial origins and faced questions about his own racial identity throughout his life. He once reflected:

I don't have prejudice against himself. My father was a white and my mother was black. Them call me half-caste or whatever. Me don't dip on nobody's side. Me don't dip on the black man's side nor the white man's side. Me dip on God's side, the one who create me and cause me to come from black and white.

Marley and his mother moved to Kingston's Trenchtown slum after Norval's death. He was forced to learn self-defense, as he became the target of bullying because of his racial makeup and small stature (5'4" or 163 cm tall)[citation needed]. He gained a reputation for his physical strength, which earned him the nickname "Tuff Gong".

Marley became friends with Neville "Bunny" Livingston (later known as Bunny Wailer), with whom he started to play music. He left school at the age of 14 and started as an apprentice at a local welder's shop. In his free time, he and Livingston made music with Joe Higgs, a local singer and devout Rastafari. It was at a jam session with Higgs and Livingston that Marley met Peter McIntosh (later known as Peter Tosh), who had similar musical ambitions.

In 1962, Marley recorded his first two singles, "Judge Not" and "One Cup of Coffee", with local music producer Leslie Kong. These songs, released on the Beverley's label under the pseudonym of Bobby Martell,[4] attracted little attention. The songs were later re-released on the box set, Songs of Freedom, a posthumous collection of Marley's work.

Musical career

The Wailers

In 1963, Bob Marley, Bunny Livingston, Peter McIntosh, Junior Braithwaite, Beverley Kelso, and Cherry Smith formed a ska and rocksteady group, calling themselves "The Teenagers". They later changed their name to "The Wailing Rudeboys", then to "The Wailing Wailers", at which point they were discovered by record producer Coxsone Dodd, and finally to "The Wailers". By 1966, Braithwaite, Kelso, and Smith had left The Wailers, leaving the core trio of Marley, Livingston, and McIntosh.

In 1966, Marley married Rita Anderson, and moved near his mother's residence in Wilmington, Delaware in the United States for a short time, during which he worked as a DuPont lab assistant and on the assembly line at a Chrysler plant, under the alias Donald Marley.[5] Upon returning to Jamaica, Marley became a member of the Rastafari movement, and started to wear his trademark dreadlocks (see the religion section for more on Marley's religious views).

After a conflict with Dodd, Marley and his band teamed up with Lee "Scratch" Perry and his studio band, The Upsetters. Although the alliance lasted less than a year, they recorded what many consider The Wailers' finest work. Marley and Perry split after a dispute regarding the assignment of recording rights, but they would remain friends and work together again.

Between 1968 and 1972, Bob and Rita Marley, Peter McIntosh and Bunny Livingston re-cut some old tracks with JAD Records in Kingston and London in an attempt to commercialize The Wailers' sound. Livingston later asserted that these songs "should never be released on an album … they were just demos for record companies to listen to."

The Wailers' first album, Catch A Fire, was released worldwide in 1973, and sold well. It was followed a year later by Burnin', which included the songs "Get Up, Stand Up" and "I Shot The Sheriff". Eric Clapton made a hit cover of "I Shot the Sheriff" in 1974, raising Marley's international profile.

The Wailers broke up in 1974 with each of the three main members going on to pursue solo careers. The reason for the breakup is shrouded in conjecture; some believe that there were disagreements amongst Livingston, McIntosh, and Marley concerning performances, while others claim that Livingston and McIntosh simply preferred solo work. McIntosh began recording under the name Peter Tosh, and Livingston continued as Bunny Wailer.

Bob Marley & The Wailers

Main article: Bob Marley & The Wailers_

Despite the breakup, Marley continued recording as "Bob Marley & The Wailers". His new backing band included brothers Carlton and Aston "Family Man" Barrett on drums and bass respectively, Junior Marvin and Al Anderson on lead guitar, Tyrone Downie and Earl "Wya" Lindo on keyboards, and Alvin "Seeco" Patterson on percussion. The "I Threes", consisting of Judy Mowatt, Marcia Griffiths, and Marley's wife, Rita, provided backing vocals.

In 1975, Marley had his international breakthrough with his first hit outside Jamaica, "No Woman, No Cry," from the Natty Dread album. This was followed by his breakthrough album in the US, Rastaman Vibration (1976), which spent four weeks on the Billboard charts Top Ten.

In December 1976, two days before "Smile Jamaica", a free concert organized by the Jamaican Prime Minister Michael Manley in an attempt to ease tension between two warring political groups, Marley, his wife, and manager Don Taylor were wounded in an assault by unknown gunmen inside Marley's home. Taylor and Marley's wife sustained serious injuries, but later made full recoveries. Bob Marley received serious injuries in the chest and arm. The shooting was thought to have been politically motivated, as many felt the concert was really a support rally for Manley. Nonetheless, the concert proceeded, and an injured Marley performed as scheduled.

Marley left Jamaica at the end of 1976 for England, where he recorded his Exodus and Kaya albums. Exodus stayed on the British album charts for 56 consecutive weeks. It included four UK hit singles: "Exodus", "Waiting In Vain", "Jamming", "One Love", and a rendition of Curtis Mayfield's hit, "People Get Ready". It was here that he was arrested and received a conviction for possession of a small quantity of cannabis while traveling in London.

In 1978, Marley performed at another political concert in Jamaica, the One Love Peace Concert, again in an effort to calm warring parties. Near the end of the performance, by Marley's request, Manley and his political rival, Edward Seaga, joined each other on stage and shook hands.

Babylon by Bus, a double live album with 13 tracks, was released in 1978 to critical acclaim. This album, and specifically the final track "Jammin'" with the audience in a frenzy, captured the intensity of Marley's live performances.

Survival, a defiant and politically charged album, was released in 1979. Tracks such as "Zimbabwe", "Africa Unite", "Wake Up and Live", and "Survival" reflected Marley's support for the struggles of Africans. His appearance at the Amandla Festival in Boston in July 1979 showed his strong opposition to South African apartheid, which he already had shown in his song "War" in 1976. In early 1980, he was invited to perform at the April 17 celebration of Zimbabwe's Independence Day.

Uprising (1980) was Bob Marley's final studio album, and is one of his most religious productions, including "Redemption Song" and "Forever Loving Jah". It was in "Redemption Song" that Marley sang the famous lyric,

" Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery

None but ourselves can free our minds…"

Confrontation, released posthumously in 1983, contained unreleased material recorded during Marley's lifetime, including the hit "Buffalo Soldier" and new mixes of singles previously only available in Jamaica.

Cancer diagnosis

In July 1977, Marley was found to have malignant melanoma in a soccer wound on his right hallux (big toe). Marley refused amputation, because of the Rastafari belief that the body must be "whole":

"Rasta no abide amputation. I don't allow a man to be dismantled. "

—From the biography Catch a Fire

Marley may have seen medical doctors as samfai (tricksters, deceivers). True to this belief Marley went against all surgical possibilities and sought out other means that would not break his religious beliefs. He also refused to register a will, based on the Rastafari belief that writing a will is acknowledging death as inevitable, thus disregarding the everlasting (or everliving, as Rastas say) character of life.

Collapse and treatment

The cancer then metastasized to Marley's brain, lungs, liver, and stomach. After playing two shows at Madison Square Garden as part of his fall 1980 Uprising Tour, he collapsed while jogging in NYC's Central Park. The remainder of the tour was subsequently cancelled.

Bob Marley played his final concert at the Stanley Theater in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on September 23, 1980. The live version of "Redemption Song" on Songs of Freedom was recorded at this show.[6] Marley afterwards sought medical help from Munich specialist Josef Issels, but his cancer had already progressed to the terminal stage.

Death and posthumous reputation

While flying home from Germany to Jamaica for his final days, Marley became ill, and landed in Miami for immediate medical attention. He died at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Miami, Florida on the morning of May 11, 1981 at the age of 36. The spread of melanoma to his lungs and brain caused his death. His final words to his son Ziggy were "Money can't buy life."[7] Marley received a state funeral in Jamaica on May 21, 1981 which combined elements of Ethiopian Orthodoxy and Rastafari tradition. He was buried in a chapel near his birthplace with his Gibson Les Paul, a soccer ball, a Cannabis bud, a ring that he wore every day that was given to him by the Prince Asfaw Wossen of Ethiopia (eldest son of HIM), and a Bible. A month before his death, he was awarded the Jamaican Order of Merit.

Marley was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. Time magazine chose Bob Marley & The Wailers' Exodus as the greatest album of the 20th century.

In 2001, Marley was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and a feature-length documentary about his life, Rebel Music, won various awards at the Grammys. With contributions from Rita, the Wailers, and Marley's lovers and children, it also tells much of the story in his own words.

In 2004, a cover of "Three Little Birds" by Ziggy Marley and Sean Paul was used as the title song for the film Shark Tale.

In 2006, the City of New York renamed a portion of Church Avenue from Remsen Avenue to East 98th Street in the East Flatbush section of Brooklyn "Bob Marley Boulevard".[8]

The hero of the 2007 film I Am Legend, cites Bob Marley as an influence on his life philosophy. Marley's songs are prominently used in the film

Religion

Bob Marley was a member of the Rastafari movement, whose culture was a key element in the development of reggae. Bob Marley became the leading proponent of the Rastafari, taking their music out of the socially deprived areas of Jamaica and onto the international music scene.

Marley's adoption of the characteristic Rastafari dreadlocks, famous use of cannabis as a sacred sacrament, and an ital food diet, which were an integral part of his persona. He is said to have entered every performance proclaiming the divinity of Jah Rastafari (in reality Haile Selassie I of Ethiopia).

Many of Marley's songs contained Biblical references, sometimes using wordplay to fuse activism and religion, as in "Revolution" and "Revelation":

"Revelation reveals the truth … "

"It takes a revolution to make a solution …"

He was criticized for singing

" and I feel like bombing a church …"

" now that you know that the preacher is lying … "

on the song "Talkin' Blues" on the Natty Dread album.

Bob Marley was baptized by the Archbishop of the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian Church in Kingston, Jamaica on November 4, 1980.

Film adaptation

In February 2008, director Martin Scorsese announced his intention to produce a documentary movie on Marley. The film is set to be released on February 6, 2010, on what would have been Marley's 65th birthday.[14]

In March 2008, The Weinstein Company announced its plans to produce a biopic of Bob Marley, based on the book No Woman No Cry: My Life With Bob Marley by Rita Marley. Rudy Langlais will produce the script by Lizzie Borden and Rita Marley will exec produce.

Zimbabwe Tour:In April 1980, Bob Marley and the Wailers Were Afforded the Highest Honor of Their Musical Careers!

Bob Marley Zimbabwe Tour

"Every man gotta right to decide his own destiny." - Bob Marley, 'Zimbabwe'

In April 1980, Bob Marley and the Wailers were afforded the highest honor of their musical careers. On April 18th, the country Rhodesia which would now be called Zimbabwe was to celebrate its independence from England and Bob Marley and The Wailers were invited to perform at the ceremony.

Officials from Zimbabwe's government-elect invited Marley and the band to perform at the Independence ceremonies. Marley’s "Zimbabwe" tune had proved inspirational to the ZANLA (Zimbabwe National Liberation Army) freedom fighters. He would be playing amidst the ruins of Great Zimbabwe, an enormous pyramid built by Solomon and Sheba.

What no one had thought to inform Bob and his team of was the precise nature of the first show they would be playing. The concert was scheduled for the slot immediately following the independence ceremony, and was to be performed for an exclusive audience of assembled dignitaries and media. As well as the ZANLA party faithful, the international luminaries included Zimbabwe's first Prime Minister Robert Mugabe, Britain's Prince Charles and India's Indira Gandhi.

The general population would not rest until they got the chance to here their hero belt out the tune that had earlier inspired them, hence the unrest.

Bob Marley and the Wailers' first performance in Zimbabwe was marred by tear gas and chaos, yet Marley returned to the stage to perform "Zimbabwe" and prevailed the next day, as over 100,000 people gathered for the second show on April 19, 1980.

Marley’s dream of African liberation was subdued by the chaos and reflected in the lack luster performance that he gave in the second instance.

Zimbabwe

Every man gotta right to decide his own destiny,

And in this judgement there is no partiality.

So arm in arms, with arms, we'll fight this little struggle,

'Cause that's the only way we can overcome our little trouble.

Brother, you're right, you're right,

You're right, you're right, you're so right!

We gon' fight (we gon' fight), we'll have to fight (we gon' fight),

We gonna fight (we gon' fight), fight for our rights!

Natty Dread it in-a (Zimbabwe);

Set it up in (Zimbabwe);

Mash it up-a in-a Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe);

Africans a-liberate (Zimbabwe), yeah.

No more internal power struggle;

We come together to overcome the little trouble.

Soon we'll find out who is the real revolutionary,

'Cause I don't want my people to be contrary.

And, brother, you're right, you're right,

You're right, you're right, you're so right!

We'll 'ave to fight (we gon' fight), we gonna fight (we gon' fight)

We'll 'ave to fight (we gon' fight), fighting for our rights!

Mash it up in-a (Zimbabwe);

Natty trash it in-a (Zimbabwe);

Africans a-liberate Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe);

I'n'I a-liberate Zimbabwe.

(Brother, you're right,) you're right,

You're right, you're right, you're so right!

We gon' fight (we gon' fight), we'll 'ave to fight (we gon' fight),

We gonna fight (we gon' fight), fighting for our rights!

To divide and rule could only tear us apart;

In everyman chest, mm - there beats a heart.

So soon we'll find out who is the real revolutionaries;

And I don't want my people to be tricked by mercenaries.

Brother, you're right, you're right,

You're right, you're right, you're so right!

We'll 'ave to fight (we gon' fight), we gonna fight (we gon' fight),

We'll 'ave to fight (we gon' fight), fighting for our rights!

Natty trash it in-a Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe);

Mash it up in-a Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe);

Set it up in-a Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe);

Africans a-liberate Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe);

Africans a-liberate Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe);

Natty dub it in-a Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe).

Set it up in-a Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe);

Africans a-liberate Zimbabwe (Zimbabwe);

Every man got a right to decide his own destiny.

"Redemption song"

Old pirates, yes, they rob I;

Sold I to the merchant ships,

Minutes after they took I

From the bottomless pit.

But my hand was made strong

By the hand of the Almighty.

We forward in this generation

Triumphantly.

Won't you help to sing

This(not another) songs of freedom

'Cause all I ever have:

Redemption songs;

Redemption songs.

Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery;

None but ourselves can free our minds.

Have no fear for atomic energy,

'Cause none of them can stop the time.

How long shall they kill our prophets,

While we stand aside and look? Ooh!

Some say it's just a part of it:

We've got to fullfil the book.

Won't you help to sing

This songs of freedom-

'Cause all I ever have:

Redemption songs;

Redemption songs;

Redemption songs.

---

/Guitar break/

---
Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery;

None but ourselves can free our mind.

Wo! Have no fear for atomic energy,

'Cause none of them-a can-a stop-a the time.

How long shall they kill our prophets,

While we stand aside and look?

Yes, some say it's just a part of it:

We've got to fullfil the book.

Won't you have to sing

This songs of freedom? -

'Cause all I ever had:

Redemption songs -

All I ever had:

Redemption songs:

These songs of freedom,

Songs of freedom.

Amie Jallow is yet another young Gambian  born singer currently based  in the United Kingdom struggling to reach stardom. 

Recently, she was on holiday in The Gambia to visits her family.She disclosed to What’s On that she had been in the music business for some time now and has had a great passion for singing.

According to her, when she get back to the UK, she plan to go into many things to further showcase and further improve her
talents, especially in the music industry.

According to her, she plans to make all efforts to break the limelight of becoming The Gambia’s born diva in the United Kingdom.

The young singer spoke briefly of her sojourn in England when she first attended the English Matyrs Primary School before going on to Secondary School.

“ However, I first discovered my talents in writing songs and later decided to explored it and realised that I could actually make it in music because I am a good singer coupled with melodic voice,” she said.

The young singer’s voice is just great. She stands a good chance to excel in the international music scene if given the necessary support.

She has been mesmerizing fans for three decades.

Singer Elisa Domingas Jamisse, or Mingas, is one of Mozambique's most famous celebrities. Her music, a mixture of Afro sounds that gives prominence to the rhythms of the Chope people of southern Mozambique, has thrilled audiences the world over.

Mingas garnered applause for her work both as a solo artist and for her collaborations with icons such as Miriam Makeba and Jimmy Dludlu at the mega-concert she held in the capital, Maputo, in December to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the start of her career.

The trajectory of her career has coincided with the spread of HIV. Just as Mingas' career was taking off, AIDS was also beginning to gain ground. The pandemic is now just under 30 years old.

At the time, little was known about the HIV virus, but many artists' careers were ending prematurely because of AIDS. The disease came to the singer's attention during her first international tour in 1987.

AIDS had already hit the artistic community in Europe and musicians there would ask her about the epidemic in Africa. "That was when we saw that there was something seriously wrong, but we didn't have access to information. We didn't know anything," she recalled.

When she returned to her native land and tried to talk about the issue, she was met with disbelief. "A lot of people thought that AIDS was just a story made up to get the population to reduce their number of partners, or to buy more condoms, or to have fewer children," she said.

Seeing the epidemic spread in Mozambique, Mingas decided to use her celebrity to talk about this previously taboo subject. Her involvement in anti-AIDS efforts led to her participation in the CD 'Vidas Positivas' (Positive Lives) in 2002, a project by the non-governmental organisation, Doctors Without Borders.

Mingas wrote and sang "Xini Xiku Kluphaku," which translates as, "What Worries You in Life?" "I thought of this song because stigmatisation is one of the things that kill most. I wanted to say, 'No matter how much of a problem AIDS is, open yourself up, because that way we can live longer lives,'" she explained.

The song is still popular today, and always has a profound effect on audiences in Mozambique. "Everyone is moved because most families have lost someone to AIDS," Mingas said. "It's sad as well, because the song reminds people that the problem really does exist."
Targeting the artistic community

According to Mingas, artists - musicians, painters, actors, writers - are particularly vulnerable to HIV because of their lifestyle. "Because of the nature of our work we're surrounded by fans, and many artists end up letting down their guard and don't protect themselves. We've lost various musicians because of AIDS," she told IRIN/PlusNews.

As the epidemic has evolved, artists have begun to deal with the issue in their songs, paintings and novels, but Mingas stressed that "Many people are unable to reduce the number of partners they have or practice safe sex. We've participated in campaigns, we've sung, we've written books, but we still haven't changed people's behaviour."

The Southern African Development Community Artists Against HIV and AIDS Forum (SAAAF) was launched in January to work for greater behaviour change after a joint declaration by artists from Mozambique, Lesotho, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe performing at a festival in Harare, Zimbabwe in November 2007.

The Forum will carry out surveys on HIV and AIDS and provide data on the number of artists living with the disease, in addition to creating a network of contacts with other HIV organisations and services in the region. "I think that more people and more involvement to talk about this problem is what's needed," said Mingas.

The new body will also approach the governments of the Southern African Development Community, the international community and individuals to help artists deal with the pandemic and capacitate the executive committee to reach its objectives.

One of the Forum's tasks is to encourage all artists to undergo voluntary counselling and testing, and to guarantee that they receive all the necessary support if they test HIV positive.

"Artists have not managed to get help from existing organisations," said artist Setephen Chifunyise, the Forum's spokesperson. "As a result, many of them die in silence and isolation, without the support of their colleagues, artistic organisations or institutions that work with HIV."

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