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Bob Marley was a promoter of peace and believed in the union of all people. He used his music as a channel to get his opinions and thoughts out into the world. Me only have one ambition, yow. I really have only one thing I really like to see happen. I like to see mankind live together-black, white, Chinese, everyone-thats all. Robert Nesta Marley was born February 6 th, 1945 in the small ghetto of Nine Miles, in the parish of St.
Anne, Jamaica. His father was a white British Naval officer named Narval Marley, and his mother was a young, poor Jamaican girl named Cedalla Brooker. The well-to-do Marley family did not approve of Narval and Cedalla's relationship (Clark). Despite marrying Cedalla, Narval was more of an occasional visitor rather than a father figure to Bob (Clark). He did not survive to see his sons success. After a few years, Bob and his mother moved to Trenchtown (western Kingston), which was built around the former Kingston refuse dump (Salewicz).
People would spend their days scavenging for whatever they could find here (Salewicz). The shanty-town people who lived here considered it desirable accommodations and were not ashamed of their home at all (Salewicz). Trenchtown was also considered a spiritual power point for the Rastafarians, which is a major form of religion in Jamaica (Salewicz). It is said that those who have nothing, and therefore nothing to lose, are not afraid to express their talents (Salewicz). This was true for many people who lived in these areas, including Bob. Living in Kingston, Bob cut his first record at the age of 16, with a song called Judge Not (Clark).
This album was a complete flop. In his teen years, he had many influences, including Fats Domino, Ray Charles, and Joe Higgs (Peake). He also loved Jamaican, Ska, and Rock Steady music (Peake). The biggest influence that anyone had ever had on Bob was Joe Higgs (Salewicz). Joe was the areas most famous singer and musically prominent Rasta, or person who followed the Rastafarian religion (Salewicz). He was Bobs first mentor and introduced him to Peter Tosh, and Bunny Livingston, who would be his future band mates (Salewicz).
Bob, Peter, and Bunny all took part in evening music sessions in Joes Third Street Yard every night. When he was just 18, Bob, Bunny, and Peter formed the Waiting Wailers, and their first song Simmer Down was an instant number one in Jamaica (Pagewise). From here, their success grew. On February 10, 1966, Bob was married to Rita Anderson, who he met in Kingston. After the wedding, he went to Delaware to earn money to begin the Wail n Soul label, which would lapse in 1967.
Four years later, they were signed to the Island label and released their seconded album Catch a Fire in 1973. They appeared on BBC Television in the U. K. , and opened for Bruce Springsteen in New York (Pagewise). The more their fame grew, the more Peter and Bunny wanted to go solo (Pagewise). They eventually left the group (Pagewise). After the group split up, Bob added a trio of female backing vocalists, the I-Threes, one of which was his wife, Rita (Pagewise).
They became known as Bob Marley and the Wailers (Pagewise). Their first album, Natty Dread was a huge success (Pagewise). Bob, like his mentor Joe Higgs, was a Rasta. Rastafarian was a religion in which they believed only in natural things, like letting their hair go into dreads, or what they called locks. They did not drink any alcohol, because it was a product of man, but they were permanently surrounded by the aroma of marijuana (Salewicz).
They believed that smoking this holy herb would bring them closer to Jah, or God (Salewicz). Rasta's were not liked by the rest of the community, and would frequently get shoved into police cars and have their locks cut off (Salewicz). Most people believed that they lived in drainage gullies and carried parts of people that they had murdered in their bags (Salewicz). Not many people really knew what the Rastafarian religion was all about, so they judged them on their appearance, which was usually dirty and ill-kempt.
Bobs songs were mainly about peace and every race getting along, and some people didnt like the messages he was sending. On December 3, 1974 a number of gunmen arrived at Bobs house and attempted to kill Bob, his wife Rita, and his manager (Clark). his act was in opposition to the free concert he was going to put on two days later in support of Prime Minister Michael Manley (Clark). Fortunately, no one was killed in this attempt, and Bob and the Wailers went on to perform the concert with Bobs arm in a sling (Clark) The next year, while Bob was touring Europe, he was diagnosed with Melanoma Cancer in his right big toe (Clark). The doctors said it was due to a neglected football (soccer) injury. This caused him to cancel the last few dates on the tour (Clark).
Back home in Jamaica, Bob was approached by the leaders of two warring political factions, The Jamaican Labor Party and The Peoples National Party, and was asked to perform a concert making truce between them (Clark). On April 22, 1978 the One Love concert happened. During it, Bob persuaded Prime Minister Manley and the opposition leader Sea to shake hands on stage (Clark). This act of peace earned him the United Nations Peace Medal, which he received in New York the following June (Clark). In September of 1980, Bob was jogging in Central Park in New York after finishing the American leg of his tour, and collapsed (Clark). He was then rushed to the hospital, where doctors told him that his cancer, previously said to be cleared, was back and present in his lungs and brain (Clark).
Bob was advised to go and get treated, but he refused. He then flew to Pittsburg, where he performed his last concert on September 23, 1980 (Clark). After this, he was flown to Germany to be treated, and then back to New York for more treatment (Clark). On his way back home, he was too ill and had to check in to a Miami hospital en route (Clark). There he died on May 11, 1981. His body was flown back to Jamaica and buried in Kingston.
Bob received numerous awards, some he knew about, others he didnt. In 1976, Rolling Stones Magazine named Bob Marley and the Wailers Band of the Year, and in 1999, their album Exodus was named Album of the Century (Pagewise). He also received special honors when he performed at Zimbabwe's Independence Celebration. (Pagewise) He came out with a total of nine albums in his career, and had four more tribute albums after his death (Pagewise). Bob Marley was a true hero in the eyes of many people.
He brought peace to the eyes of everyone in Jamaica, and captivated the whole world with the sounds of his music. Even though he is gone, his legend still lives on. Music was his life, and his way to spread his thoughts and ideas to the world. As Bob Marley said in 1979, I love the development of our music, thats what I really dig about the whole thing. How weve tried to develop, yow? It grows.
Thats why everyday people come forward with new songs. Music goes on forever. (nice. com) Bob Marley Biography. Pagewise, Inc. , 2002.
Retrieved on 2 / 23 / 2005. < web ju gn. htm>. Bob Marley Biography. Retrieved on 2 / 23 / 2005. < web > Clark, Tony.
Bob Marley Biography. Retrieved on 2 / 23 / 2005. < web > Peake, Mike. Biography. 1998. Retreived on 3 / 1 / 2005. < web > Salewicz, Chris. Bob Marley. 1995. Retreived on 2 / 23 / 2005. < web >
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Research essay sample on People Who Lived Bob Marley
