Bob Marley is a Jamaican musician known for his reggae singles. Despite the fact that he passed away in 1981, his popularity is gaining momentum. For a long time he sided with pan-Africanism, and later became a supporter of Rastafarianism. As a child, he was a difficult child, perhaps this was due to the absence of his father in his life. But on his life path, the Jamaican musician Joe Higgs appeared in time, giving an impetus to Bob in his musical career.
Childhood
Bob Marley is a creative pseudonym. His real name sounds like Robert Nesta Marley. The young man was born in a small village in Jamaica. His father was an Englishman, he served as a general in the British Navy. At the time of his birth, Bob's mother was only 16 years old, she was 44 years younger than her chosen one. Perhaps the difference in the age of the spouses played a role in their short family life.
Bob Marley, after graduating from high school, went to work as a welder in order to somehow help his mother maintain a home life. But music attracted him very much, so in parallel with his main work, he, together with his friend Neville Livingstone, began to hone his musical abilities. The famous musician Joe Higgsu made a huge contribution to his career, teaching several free vocal lessons.
Career
18-year-old Bob made his first public appearance with his single "Judge Not", which Joe Higgsu helped write. In the same year, Marley, together with his friends Bunny Livingston and Peter Tosh, auditioned for the influential Sino-Jamaican reggae producer Leslie Kong. A year later, young people organized their own vocal group, which was called "The Teenagers", a little later it was renamed "The Wailers". Bass guitarist Aston Barrett was nominated for the position of the band's music director.
The popularity of the group was gaining momentum very quickly. Her first single, "Simmer Down", sold 80,000 copies. In 1966, despite high ratings, The Wailers disbanded. A few years later, Bob Marley recreated the group, including a female vocal trio and renaming it "Bob Marley and The Wailers". In the mid-70s, vocalists were recognized as the leaders of reggae.
After the band's colossal success, Bob became a popular cult figure. The public perceived his speeches in the field of politics and religion as the speech of the Almighty. But the young man also had enemies, for example, in 1976, an attempt was made on him and his family to disrupt a free concert aimed at reconciling the two political forces of Jamaica that hate each other. Despite bullet wounds to the chest and arm, Bob held a concert.
On the personal front, the musician was doing great. He and his wife Rita Marley gave birth to four children. After the death of her husband, the wife tried to continue her vocal career, but over time she decided that the children needed more than the public.
The sunset of Bob Marley's life
At 32, a young musician was found to have a cancerous tumor on his big toe. Bob, who was very fond of football, refused to amputate, arguing that he would not be able to play on the field. In addition, the Rastas, who Marley was, believed that the human body should remain intact.
Since Marley was a symbol of African unity, in 1980 he was offered to hold a concert in Zimbabwe. Then he planned a tour of Europe and America, but during a tour in New York, the young man lost consciousness and was forced to start treatment in Munich. After undergoing chemotherapy, he lost his hair and lost a lot of weight. In May 1981, he was baptized in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Realizing that his days were numbered, he expressed a desire to spend them on his native land, but could not fly to Jamaica due to health conditions. Cancer has already hit his lungs and brain. Despite the tremendous efforts of doctors, on May 11, 1981, Bob Marley died in the hospital. Although he did not manage to spend his last days on the island during his lifetime, his body was buried in Jamaica. The funeral was held in accordance with the traditions of Rastafarianism. His crypt contained a guitar, a soccer ball, a bunch of marijuana, a ring, and a Bible.
