May 11th, 2022 marks the 41st anniversary of the Pan-African musician and activist Robert Nesta “Bob” Marley. Bob Marley’s Rastafarian faith influenced his belief in the unity of African people across the globe— a message that is evident in all of his music.
40 INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT BOB MARLEY
- Bob Marley was born on February 6th, 1945, and died at 36 years old on May 11th, 1981.
- His claim to fame was as a Jamaican reggae artist.
- Bob Marley was bi-racial and his family history of migration. His father was White and an alleged a Syrian Jew. He got Jamaican citizenship after migrating from Sussex, England.
4. Bob Marley practiced palm reading as a kid living in the ghettos of Kingston Jamaica. He is said to have found a new passion in singing when he returned to his village from the city, never to predict people’s futures through reading palms again.
5. In 1955, when Bob Marley was 10 years old, his father died of a heart attack at the age of 70.
6. Marley and Neville Livingston (later known as Bunny Wailer) had been childhood friends in Nine Mile.
7. In 1963, Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer, Peter Tosh, Junior Braithwaite, Beverley Kelso, and Cherry Smith traded under the name “The Teenagers”.
8. They later changed the name to The Wailing Rudeboys, then to The Wailing Wailers, at a point they were discovered by record producer Coxsone Dodd, and finally to The Wailers.
9. “Tuff Gong”, the name of Bob’s recording label, was a nickname Bob earned for himself in the Kingston ghetto of Trenchtown (so named because it was built over an old drainage trench) for being exactly the wrong guy to mess with. Ever.
10. The first single “Simmer Down” for the Coxsone label became Jamaica’s number 1 in February of 1964, selling an estimated 70,000 copies.
11. 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.
12. Though raised as a Catholic, Marley became interested in Rastafari teachings during the 1960s, a step away from his mother’s influence.
13. After returning to Jamaica, Marley formally converted to Rastafari and began to grow dreadlocks.
14. The Wailers’ first album for Island, Catch A Fire, was released worldwide in April of 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.
15. It was followed later that year by the album Burnin’ which included the song “I Shot the Sheriff”.
16. 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 “l Shot the Sheriff” which became his first US hit since “Layla” two years earlier and reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 on September 14th, 1974.
17. Many Jamaicans were not keen on the new reggae sound on Catch A Fire, but the Trenchtown style of Burnin’ cemented admiration across both reggae and rock audiences.
18. 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.
19. Peter Tosh’s birth name was Winston Hubert McIntosh. “The Toughest”, as Tosh was known, was murdered in his home on Friday, September 11th, 1987, by a 32-year-old hoodlum acquaintance of his named Leppo. (Tosh was a guitarist in The Wailers, and a very important reggae singer/songwriter in his own right.)
20. When Bob discovered that the reason he was still poor after being so famous for so long was that his long-time manager and friend Don Taylor had been robbing him blind, Bob beat Don to within an inch of his life. Then he fired him.
21. Despite the break-up of the group, Marley continued recording as “Bob Marley & The Wailers”.
22. On December 3rd, 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 then 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.
23. 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, released in 1978 and received critical acclaim. The album, and specifically the final track “Jamming” with the audience in a frenzy, captured the intensity of Marley’s live performances.
24. 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 already-existing cancer.
25. 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.
26. While Marley was flying home from Germany to Jamaica, his vital functions worsened. After landing in Miami, Florida, he was taken to the hospital for immediate medical attention.
27. Bob Marley died on May 11th, 1981 at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Miami (now University of Miami Hospital) at the age of 36. The spread of melanoma to his lungs and brain caused his death.
28. “Money Can’t Buy Life”. These were his final words to his son, Ziggy.
29. According to some of Marley’s biographers, he devoted to the Twelve Tribes Mansion, one of the Mansions of Rastafari. He was in the denomination known as the “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.
30. 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 Sharon, born on November 23rd, 1964, daughter of Rita from a previous relationship but then adopted by Marley after his marriage with Rita, Cedella, born on August 23rd, 1967, to Rita, David “Ziggy”, born on October 17th, 1968, to Rita, Stephen, born on April 20th, 1972, to Rita, Robert “Robbie”, born on May 16th, 1972, to Pat Williams, Rohan, born on May 19th, 1972, to Janet Hunt, Karen, born in 1973 to Janet Bowen, Stephanie, born on August 17th, 1974; according to Bob’s mother, Cedella Booker, she (Stephanie) was the daughter of Rita and a man called Ital with whom Rita had an affair; nonetheless, she was acknowledged as Bob’s daughter, Julian, born on June 4th, 1975, to Lucy Pounder, Ky-Mani, born on February 26th, 1976, to Anita Belnavisv and Damian, born July 21st, 1978, to Cindy Breakspeare.
31. Aside from music, football played a major role throughout his life.
32. Marley surrounded himself with people from the sport, and in the 1970s he made the Jamaican international footballer Allan “Skill” Cole his tour manager.
33. He once told a journalist, “If you want to get to know me, you will have to play football against me and The Wailers.”
34. Marley saw marijuana usage as a vital factor in religious growth and connection with Jah, and as a way to philosophize and become wiser.
35. A statue was inaugurated, next to the national stadium along Arthur Wint Drive in Kingston to commemorate him.
36. In November of 2014, Forbes Magazine listed Marley as fifth on the list of the highest-earning dead celebrities. With the release of Marley Natural Fine Cannabis, Marley’s estate can expect to rocket up the posthumous earnings list in the future.
37. Marley has sold more than 75 million albums in the past two decades. Legend, a retrospect of his work, is the best-selling reggae album ever. More than 12 million copies have been sold internationally and several thousand new units are sold every week.
38. He was a vegetarian due to his devotion to the Rastafari practice “Ital”.
39. His favorite Reggae singer was Dennis Emmanuel Brown, and he thought the rest were “skanks.”
40. He was buried on home turf along with his Gibson Les Paul guitar, among his interests.
