Biographic - Sunday March 25, 2007 Comic Strip Licensing and Permissions

Transcript

The late Bob Marley is remembered in the annals of music as the man who almost single-handedly popularized reggae throughout the world. The son of a British army captain, the Jamaican legend was the first superstar from a developing nation. Robert Nesta Marley was born in Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica, on February 6, 1945. He first tasted success as the leader of The Wailers, a band that, during the mid-1960s, was one of the hottest groups in Jamaica. After becoming a member of the Rastafarian religious movement, he began wearing his hair in the dreadlocked style that became his trademark look. By the early 1970s, he was Jamaica's biggest star, and his music was championed throughout the world by the likes of Johnny Nash, with the hit "Stir It Up" and Eric Clapton, who topped the U.S. charts with "I Shot The Sheriff." Marley's own internal breakthrough came with the 1975 hit "No Man No Cry." A global reggae pioneer, he was also an outspoken political activist, reaching prophetlike status as spokesman for the masses and earning the peace medal of the third world from the United Nations. In Jamaica, his profile was such that an assassination attempt was made on his life just prior to his appearance at a political rally. When Marley was diagnosed with Melanoma of his toe in 1977, his Rastafarian beliefs (and fears for his dancing and soccer-playing abilities) led him to decline to have the toe amputated. It proved to be a fatal decision. The cancer spread, and by the time he sought medical help, after collapsing in New York, it was too late. He died in Miami on May 11, 1981 at the age of 36, and was buried in Jamaica with full state honors, thousands turning out to pay last respects to the island's most famous son. But his legend and musical legacy live on. He was inducted into the rock and roll hall of fame in 1994, and awarded a posthumous grammy lifetime achievement award in 2001. Time magazine designated his "Exodus" the greatest album of the 20th century.

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