Bob Marley And The Wailers (巴布馬利)

鮑勃·馬利
演唱會上的鮑勃·馬利（1980年左右）//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/Bob-Marley.jpg
歌手
本名	Robert Nesta Marley
出生	1945年2月6日(1945-02-06) 牙買加
逝世	1981年5月11日 （36歲） 美國佛羅里達州邁阿密
職業	Singer-songwriter, musician
音樂類型	Reggae, ska, rocksteady
活躍年代	1962–1981
網站	bobmarley.com

巴布·馬利在星光大道的手印

鮑勃·馬利（Bob Marley，1945年2月6日－1981年5月11日）牙買加唱作歌手，雷鬼樂鼻祖。他將牙買加雷鬼樂（Reggae）帶往歐美流行音樂及搖滾樂的領域，成功將牙買加雷鬼樂傳入西方，對西方流行音樂產生巨大的影響，後世尊稱他為雷鬼樂之父。 他以充滿激情、力量、鬥志的灵魂之聲，獲譽「首位第三世界的流行巨星」，實踐了音樂無國界的理念。而作為反種族主義的音樂鬥士，他長期致力於牙買加社會運動，他的音樂包含寬容、博愛及信仰，至今仍被國民視為牙買加的民族英雄。

經典歌曲有 《No Woman，No Cry》，《One Love》，《Buffalo Soldier 》，《Three Little Birds》等。精選《Legend》於過世三年後發行，是雷鬼樂界最暢銷的專輯，在美國得到了11次白金唱片（鑽石唱片），世界銷量達兩千萬張。

履歷

鮑勃·馬利在1945年2月6日，馬利生於牙買加的聖安娜區的帕里什。

他的父親Norval Marley，1895年生於牙買加一個來自英國薩西克斯郡的家庭，曾為一名軍人。Norval遇到了一位自北方鄉間的黑人少女，馬利的媽媽Cedella Booker。兩人在1944年6月9日結婚。然而，婚禮大約一週前，他的父親Norval告訴Cedella，疝氣開始折磨他的身體，他必須辭退原本的工作搬到京斯敦。由於Norval富裕的英國家庭鄙視跨種族的婚姻關係，因為此他從來沒有機會接觸他的兒子，僅僅只見過兒子一面。

1950年代中期，馬利與由母親搬到京斯頓的貧民窟生活，馬利的童年時光都在貧民窟中度過，音樂和足球是唯一能給他快樂的東西。在這段生活中，馬利看到了世間的貧困與艱苦，從中他學會了關愛與包容。家庭以及童年生活也是影響他日後致力於反種族主義與社會運動的起源。

1960年代馬利開始了他的音樂生涯，並在1964年與另五名團員組織了“Wailing Wailers”樂隊。一開始馬利嘗試斯卡曲風（Ska），後來漸漸將雷鬼、rocksteady融入自己的音樂風格中，發展成現在的雷鬼樂形式。

1968年，“Wailing Wailers”正式改名为“The Wailers”樂隊。

1970年代和1980年代馬利持續致力於演奏、教學和歌唱。馬利早期音樂生涯是跟斯卡、rocksteady與雷鬼樂團 The Wailers 在一起。The Wailers包括另外兩位知名的雷鬼樂手，Bunny Livingston (Bunny Wailer)和Peter McIntosh (Peter Tosh)。他們兩人後来都離開這個樂隊，成為很成功的獨唱歌手。

1974年，The Wailers解散之後，馬利和I Threes一起繼續以Bob Marley & The Wailers之名表演。現在，Bob Marley、The Wailers和Bob Marley & the Wailers，經常用來指不同實體所錄製的音樂。

1981年，馬利在美國邁阿密病逝，終年36歲，他的第十張專輯《Legend》於過世三年後發行，是雷鬼樂界最暢銷的專輯，在美國得到了十次白金唱片（鑽石唱片），世界銷量達兩千萬張。

癌逝

1977年7月，馬利被發現肢端有小痣般的黑色素瘤，傷口是在一場足球比賽後出現的。1980年5月樂隊完成了主要歐洲之旅，在米蘭表演了有史以來規模最大、將近十萬人次的演唱會。其後馬利前往美國，不久後他健康惡化，癌細胞全身擴散。馬利到德國尋求治療，在那裡他得到部分基礎癌症治療並被要求需要避免某些食物、飲料和其他物質。可惜經過八個月的療程病情仍未好轉，因此馬利搭上了回去牙買加的班機。

回牙買加時他的病情急速惡化。在邁阿密降落後立即將他送往醫院。1981年5月11日上午，他於佛羅里達邁阿密去世，由於黑色素瘤（癌細胞）已蔓延到他的肺部和腦部。得年36歲。他最後留給兒子齊吉的一句話：“生命是金錢所買不到的”。1981年5月21日，馬利在牙買加以衣索比亞的元素結合東正教和拉斯塔法裡教的傳統進行國葬。他是被安葬在他出生地附近的一個教堂。在他去世的前一個月，他也被授予牙買加榮譽勳章。

榮譽

• 1976年：年度最佳樂隊（滾石）。

• 1978年6月：榮獲聯合國頒發「第三世界和平勳章」。

• 1994年3月：入選美國搖滾名人堂。

• 1999年，專輯《Exodus》被《時代》評選為「世紀專輯」。

• 2001年2月：入選美國好萊塢星光大道。

• 2001年2月：追頒美國格萊美終身成就獎。 一尊紀念他的雕像在金斯頓國家體育場旁的道路上揭幕。

• 2006年，美國紐約州一部分的教會大街，從雷姆森大街至東98街，布魯克林的弗拉特布路段被重新命名為「鮑勃馬利大道」。

• 2010年，獲選美國CNN近50年「世界五大指標音樂人」。

• 2011年，歐洲最大的雷鬼音樂節“Rototom Sunsplash”在西班牙舉行。為期十天的音樂節不僅吸引了來自世界各地的大約20萬歌迷，還舉行了一場特別的音樂會，紀念雷鬼樂的代表人物鮑勃·馬利逝世30週年。 。

Bob Marley
Bob Marley in concert, 1980.
Background information
Birth name	Robert Nesta Marley
Also known as	Tuff Gong
Born	(1945-02-06)6 February 1945 Nine Mile, Saint Ann, Jamaica
Died	11 May 1981(1981-05-11) (aged 36) Miami, Florida
Genres	Reggae, ska, rocksteady
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, musician, guitarist
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, percussion
Years active	1962–1981
Labels	Beverley's, Studio One, Wail'n Soul'm, JAD, Upsetter, Tuff Gong, Island
Associated acts	Bob Marley and the Wailers
Website	bobmarley.com

Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley OM (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981) was a Jamaican reggae singer-songwriter and guitarist who achieved international fame and acclaim. Starting out in 1963 with the group the Wailers, he forged a distinctive songwriting and vocal style that would later resonate with audiences worldwide. The Wailers would go on to release some of the earliest reggae records with producer Lee Scratch Perry. After the Wailers disbanded in 1974, Marley pursued a solo career which culminated in the release of the album Exodus in 1977 which established his worldwide reputation. He was a committed Rastafari who infused his music with a profound sense of spirituality.

Early life and career

Robert Nesta Marley was born on the farm of his maternal grandfather in Nine Mile, Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica, to Norval Sinclair Marley and Cedella Booker. Norval Marley was a European-Jamaican of British heritage (Heather Marley once stated that he may have had distant Jewish Syrian ancestry). Norval claimed to have been a captain in the Royal Marines, though at the time of his marriage to Cedella Booker, an African-Jamaican then 18 years old, he was employed as a plantation overseer. Though Bob Marley was named Nesta Robert Marley, a Jamaican passport official would later reverse his first and middle names. Norval provided financial support for his wife and child but seldom saw them as he was often away. Bob Marley attended Stepney Primary and Junior High School which serves the catchment area of Saint Ann. In 1955, when Bob Marley was 10 years old, his father died of a heart attack at the age of 70.

Norval Marley

Marley and Neville Livingston (later known as Bunny Wailer) had been childhood friends in Nine Mile. They had started to play music together while at Stepney Primary and Junior High School. Marley left Nine Mile with his mother when he was 12 and moved to Trenchtown, Kingston. Cedella Booker and Thadeus Livingston (Bunny Wailer's father) had a daughter together whom they named Pearl, who was a younger sister to both Bob and Bunny. Now that Marley and Livingston were living together in the same house in Trenchtown, their musical explorations deepened to include the latest R&B from American radio stations whose broadcasts reached Jamaica, and the new Ska music. The move to Trenchtown was proving to be fortuitous, and Marley soon found himself in a vocal group with Bunny Livingston, Peter Tosh, Beverley Kelso and Junior Braithwaite. Joe Higgs, who was part of the successful vocal act Higgs & Wilson, resided on 3rd St., and his singing partner Roy Wilson had been raised by the grandmother of Junior Braithwaite. Higgs and Wilson would rehearse at the back of the houses between 2nd and 3rd Streets, and it wasn't long before Marley (now residing on 2nd St), Junior Braithwaite and the others were congregating around this successful duo. Marley and the others didn't play any instruments at this time, and were more interested in being a vocal harmony group. Higgs was glad to help them develop their vocal harmonies, although more importantly, he had started to teach Marley how to play guitar — thereby creating the bedrock that would later allow Marley to construct some of the biggest-selling reggae songs in the history of the genre.

Bob Marley and the Wailers

1962–1972: Early years

In February 1962, Marley recorded four songs, "Judge Not", "One Cup of Coffee", "Do You Still Love Me?" and "Terror", at Federal Studio for local music producer Leslie Kong. Three of the songs were released on Beverley's with "One Cup of Coffee" being released under the pseudonym Bobby Martell.

In 1963, Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer, Peter Tosh, Junior Braithwaite, Beverley Kelso, and Cherry Smith were called The Teenagers. They later changed the 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. Their single "Simmer Down" for the Coxsone label became a Jamaican #1 in February 1964 selling an estimated 70,000 copies. The Wailers, now regularly recording for Studio One, found themselves working with established Jamaican musicians such as Ernest Ranglin (arranger "It Hurts To Be Alone"), the keyboardist Jackie Mittoo and saxophonist Roland Alphonso. By 1966, Braithwaite, Kelso, and Smith had left The Wailers, leaving the core trio of Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer, and Peter Tosh.

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.

Though raised as a Catholic, Marley became interested in Rastafarian beliefs in the 1960s, when away from his mother's influence. After returning to Jamaica Marley formally converted to Rastafari and began to grow dreadlocks. The Rastafarian proscription against cutting hair is based on the biblical Samson who as a Nazarite was expected to make certain religious vows including the ritual treatment of his hair as described in Chapter Six of the Book of Numbers:

All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth himself unto the Lord, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow.

After a financial disagreement 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.

Bob Marley's flat in 1972 at 34 Ridgmount Gardens, Bloomsbury, London.

Between 1968 and 1972, Bob and Rita Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer re-cut some old tracks with JAD Records in Kingston and London in an attempt to commercialise The Wailers' sound. Bunny later asserted that these songs "should never be released on an album ... they were just demos for record companies to listen to". In 1968, Bob and Rita visited songwriter Jimmy Norman at his apartment in the Bronx. Norman had written the extended lyrics for Kai Winding's "Time Is on My Side" (covered by the Rolling Stones) and had also written for Johnny Nash and Jimi Hendrix. A three-day jam session with Norman and others, including Norman's co-writer Al Pyfrom, resulted in a 24-minute tape of Marley performing several of his own and Norman-Pyfrom's compositions. This tape is, according to Reggae archivist Roger Steffens, rare in that it was influenced by pop rather than reggae, as part of an effort to break Marley into the American charts. According to an article in The New York Times, Marley experimented on the tape with different sounds, adopting a doo-wop style on "Stay With Me" and "the slow love song style of 1960's artists" on "Splish for My Splash". An artist yet to establish himself outside his native Jamaica, Marley lived in Ridgmount Gardens, Bloomsbury, during 1972.

1972–1974: Move to Island Records

In 1972, Bob Marley signed with CBS Records in London and embarked on a UK tour with American soul singer Johnny Nash. While in London the Wailers asked their road manager Brent Clarke to introduce them to Chris Blackwell who had licensed some of their Coxsone releases for his Island Records. The Wailers intended to discuss the royalties associated with these releases instead the meeting resulted in the offer of an advance of £4,000 to record an album. Since Jimmy Cliff, Island's top reggae star, had recently left the label, Blackwell was primed for a replacement. In Marley, Blackwell recognized the elements needed to snare the rock audience: "I was dealing with rock music, which was really rebel music. I felt that would really be the way to break Jamaican music. But you needed someone who could be that image. When Bob walked in he really was that image." The Wailers returned to Jamaica to record at Harry J's in Kingston which resulted in the album Catch a Fire.

Primarily recorded on an eight-track Catch a Fire marked the first time a reggae band had access to a state-of-the-art studio and were accorded the same care as their rock 'n' roll peers. Blackwell desired to create "more of a drifting, hypnotic-type feel than a reggae rhythm", and restructured Marley's mixes and arrangements. Marley travelled to London to supervise Blackwell's overdubbing of the album which included tempering the mix from the bass-heavy sound of Jamaican music and omitting two tracks.

The Wailers' first album for Island, Catch a Fire, was released worldwide in April 1973, packaged like a rock record with a unique Zippo lighter lift-top. Initially selling 14,000 units, it didn't make Marley a star, but received a positive critical reception. It was followed later that year by the album Burnin' which included the song "I Shot the Sheriff". Eric Clapton was given the album by his guitarist George Terry in the hope that he would enjoy it. Clapton was suitably impressed and chose to record a cover version of "I Shot the Sheriff" which became his first US hit since "Layla" two years earlier and reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on 14 September 1974. Many Jamaicans were not keen on the new reggae sound on Catch a Fire, but the Trenchtown style of Burnin found fans across both reggae and rock audiences.

During this period, Blackwell gifted his Kingston residence and company headquarters at 56 Hope Road (then known as Island House) to Marley. Housing Tuff Gong Studios, the property became not only Marley's office, but also his home.

The Wailers were scheduled to open seventeen shows in the US for Sly and the Family Stone. After four shows, the band was fired because they were more popular than the acts they were opening for. The Wailers broke up in 1974 with each of the three main members pursuing solo careers. The reason for the breakup is shrouded in conjecture; some believe that there were disagreements amongst Bunny, Peter, and Bob concerning performances, while others claim that Bunny and Peter simply preferred solo work.

1974–1976: Line-up changes and shooting

Bob Marley & The Wailers live at Crystal Palace Park during the Uprising Tour

Despite the break-up, 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 United States, Rastaman Vibration (1976), which reached the Top 50 of the Billboard Soul Charts.

On 3 December 1976, two days before "Smile Jamaica", a free concert organised 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 minor wounds in the chest and arm. The attempt on his life 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, two days after the attempt. When asked why, Marley responded, "The people who are trying to make this world worse aren't taking a day off. How can I?" The members of the group Zap Pow played as Bob Marley's backup band before a festival crowd of 80,000 while members of The Wailers were still missing or in hiding. Marley left Jamaica at the end of 1976, and after a month-long "recovery and writing" sojourn at the site of Chris Blackwell's Compass Point Studios in Nassau, Bahamas, arrived in England, where he spent two years in self-imposed exile.

1977–1978: Relocation to England

Marley performing in Dalymount Park in the late 1970s

Whilst in England, he recorded the albums Exodus and Kaya. Exodus stayed on the British album charts for fifty-six consecutive weeks. It included four UK hit singles: "Exodus", "Waiting in Vain", "Jamming", and "One Love" (a rendition of Curtis Mayfield's hit, "People Get Ready"). During his time in London, he was arrested and received a conviction for possession of a small quantity of cannabis. In 1978, Marley returned to Jamaica and performed at another political concert, the One Love Peace Concert, again in an effort to calm warring parties. Near the end of the performance, by Marley's request, Michael Manley (leader of then-ruling People's National Party) and his political rival Edward Seaga (leader of the opposing Jamaica Labour Party), joined each other on stage and shook hands.

Under the name Bob Marley and the Wailers eleven albums were released, four live albums and seven studio albums. The releases included Babylon by Bus, a double live album with thirteen tracks, were released in 1978 and received critical acclaim. This album, and specifically the final track "Jamming" with the audience in a frenzy, captured the intensity of Marley's live performances.

1979–1981: Later years

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 17 April celebration of Zimbabwe's Independence Day. Uprising (1980) was Bob Marley's final studio album, and is one of his most religious productions; it includes "Redemption Song" and "Forever Loving Jah".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.

Illness and death

Marley in concert in 1980, Zurich, Switzerland

In July 1977, Marley was found to have a type of malignant melanoma under the nail of a toe. Contrary to urban legend, this lesion was not primarily caused by an injury during a football match that year, but was instead a symptom of the already-existing cancer. Marley turned down his doctors' advice to have his toe amputated, citing his religious beliefs, and instead the nail and nail bed were removed and a skin graft taken from his thigh to cover the area. Despite his illness, he continued touring and was in the process of scheduling a world tour in 1980.

The album Uprising was released in May 1980 (produced by Chris Blackwell), on which "Redemption Song" is, in particular, considered to be about Marley coming to terms with his mortality. The band completed a major tour of Europe, where it played its biggest concert to 100,000 people in Milan. After the tour Marley went to America, where he performed two shows at Madison Square Garden as part of the Uprising Tour.

Bob Marley appeared at the Stanley Theater (now called The Benedum Center For The Performing Arts) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on 23 September 1980; it would be his last concert.

Shortly afterwards, Marley's health deteriorated and he became very ill; the cancer had spread throughout his body. The rest of the tour was cancelled and Marley sought treatment at the Bavarian clinic of Josef Issels, where he received a controversial type of cancer therapy (Issels treatment) partly based on avoidance of certain foods, drinks, and other substances. After fighting the cancer without success for eight months Marley boarded a plane for his home in Jamaica.

While flying home from Germany to Jamaica, Marley's vital functions worsened. After landing in Miami, Florida, he was taken to the hospital for immediate medical attention. Bob Marley died on 11 May 1981 at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Miami (now University of Miami Hospital); he was 36 years old. 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." Marley received a state funeral in Jamaica on 21 May 1981, which combined elements of Ethiopian Orthodoxy and Rastafari tradition. He was buried in a chapel near his birthplace with his red Gibson Les Paul (some accounts say it was a Fender Stratocaster).

On 21 May 1981, Jamaican Prime Minister Edward Seaga delivered the final funeral eulogy to Marley, declaring:

His voice was an omnipresent cry in our electronic world. His sharp features, majestic looks, and prancing style a vivid etching on the landscape of our minds. Bob Marley was never seen. He was an experience which left an indelible imprint with each encounter. Such a man cannot be erased from the mind. He is part of the collective consciousness of the nation.

Personal life

Religion

Rastafari movement
Main doctrines
Jah Afrocentrism Ital Zion Cannabis use
Central figures
Haile Selassie I Jesus Menen Asfaw Marcus Garvey
Key scriptures
Bible Kebra Nagast The Promise Key Holy Piby My Life and Ethiopia's Progress Royal Parchment Scroll of Black Supremacy
Branches
Mansions in the U.S. Bobo Ashanti Nyabinghi Twelve Tribes of Israel
Festivals
Shashamane Grounation Day Reasoning
Notable individuals
Leonard Howell Joseph Hibbert Mortimer Planno Vernon Carrington Charles Edwards Bob Marley Peter Tosh
See also
Vocabulary Persecution Dreadlocks Reggae Ethiopian Christianity Index of Rastafari articles
v t e

Bob Marley was a member for some years of the Rastafari movement, whose culture was a key element in the development of reggae. Bob Marley became an ardent proponent of Rastafari, taking their music out of the socially deprived areas of Jamaica and onto the international music scene. He once gave the following response, which was typical, to a question put to him during a recorded interview:

Interviewer: "Can you tell the people what it means being a Rastafarian?"
Bob: "I would say to the people, Be still, and know that His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia is the Almighty. Now, the Bible seh so, Babylon newspaper seh so, and I and I the children seh so. Yunno? So I don't see how much more reveal our people want. Wha' dem want? a white God, well God come black. True true."

Observant of the Rastafari practice Ital, a diet that shuns meat, Marley was a vegetarian. According to his biographers, he affiliated with the Twelve Tribes Mansion. He was in the denomination known as "Tribe of Joseph", because he was born in February (each of the twelve sects being composed of members born in a different month). He signified this in his album liner notes, quoting the portion from Genesis that includes Jacob's blessing to his son Joseph.

Shortly before his death, Marley was baptised into Christianity by Archbishop Abuna Yesehaq of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Kingston, Jamaica, on 4 November 1980.

Family

Bob Marley had a number of children: three with his wife Rita, two adopted from Rita's previous relationships, and several others with different women. The Bob Marley official website acknowledges eleven children.

Those listed on the official site are:

1. Sharon, born 23 November 1964, daughter of Rita from a previous relationship but then adopted by Marley after his marriage with Rita
2. Cedella born 23 August 1967, to Rita
3. David "Ziggy", born 17 October 1968, to Rita
4. Stephen, born 20 April 1972, to Rita
5. Robert "Robbie", born 16 May 1972, to Pat Williams
6. Rohan, born 19 May 1972, to Janet Hunt
7. Karen, born 1973 to Janet Bowen
8. Stephanie, born 17 August 1974; according to Cedella Booker she was the daughter of Rita and a man called Ital with whom Rita had an affair; nonetheless she was acknowledged as Bob's daughter
9. Julian, born 4 June 1975, to Lucy Pounder
10. Ky-Mani, born 26 February 1976, to Anita Belnavis
11. Damian, born 21 July 1978, to Cindy Breakspeare

Other sites have noted additional individuals who claim to be family members, as noted below:

• Marley had another son with Raphie Munroe, Fabian, who is a few months older than Ziggy.

• Makeda was born on 30 May 1981, to Yvette Crichton, after Marley's death. Meredith Dixon's book lists her as Marley's child, but she is not listed as such on the Bob Marley official website.

• Various websites, for example, also list Imani Carole, born 22 May 1963 to Cheryl Murray; but she does not appear on the official Bob Marley website.

Legacy

Awards and honors

• 1976: Band of the Year (Rolling Stone).
• June 1978: Awarded the Peace Medal of the Third World from the United Nations.
• February 1981: Awarded Jamaica's third highest honour, the Jamaican Order of Merit.
• 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.
• 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.
• "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 Nubian Jak community trust and supported by Her Majesty's Foreign Office.
• 2010: Catch a Fire inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame (Reggae Album).

Other tributes

Statue of Bob Marley in Kingston

A statue was inaugurated, next to the national stadium on Arthur Wint Drive in Kingston to commemorate him. In 2006, the State 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". In 2008, a statue of Marley was inaugurated in Banatski Sokolac, Serbia.

Internationally, Marley's message also continues to reverberate among various indigenous communities. For instance, the Australian Aborigines continue to burn a sacred flame to honor his memory in Sydney's Victoria Park, while members of the Amerindian Hopi and Havasupai tribe revere his work. There are also many tributes to Bob Marley throughout India, including restaurants, hotels, and cultural festivals.

In popular culture

Marley has also evolved into a global symbol, which has been endlessly merchandised through a variety of mediums. In light of this, author Dave Thompson in his book Reggae and Caribbean Music, laments what he perceives to be the commercialized pacification of Marley's more militant edge, stating:

Bob Marley ranks among both the most popular and the most misunderstood figures in modern culture ... That the machine has utterly emasculated Marley is beyond doubt. Gone from the public record is the ghetto kid who dreamed of Che Guevara and the Black Panthers, and pinned their posters up in the Wailers Soul Shack record store; who believed in freedom; and the fighting which it necessitated, and dressed the part on an early album sleeve; whose heroes were James Brown and Muhammad Ali; whose God was Ras Tafari and whose sacrament was marijuana. Instead, the Bob Marley who surveys his kingdom today is smiling benevolence, a shining sun, a waving palm tree, and a string of hits which tumble out of polite radio like candy from a gumball machine. Of course it has assured his immortality. But it has also demeaned him beyond recognition. Bob Marley was worth far more.

Film adaptations

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.

Ex-girlfriend and filmmaker Esther Anderson, along with Gian Godoy, made the documentary Bob Marley: The Making of a Legend, which premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in 2011.

In February 2008, director Martin Scorsese announced his intention to produce a documentary movie on Marley. The film was set to be released on 6 February 2010, on what would have been Marley's 65th birthday. However, Scorsese dropped out due to scheduling problems. He was replaced by Jonathan Demme, who dropped out due to creative differences with producer Steve Bing during the beginning of editing. Kevin Macdonald replaced Demme and the film, Marley, was released on 20 April 2012.

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 be executive producer.

Discography

Studio albums

• The Wailing Wailers (1965)
• Soul Rebels (1970)
• Soul Revolution (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)

Live albums

• Live! (1975)
• Babylon By Bus (1978)

See also

• Bob Marley and the Wailers
• List of peace activists

Notes

• Official website
• Bob Marley at the Internet Movie Database