Bob Marley, the artist that spread reggae all over the world as one of the emblems of the Jamaican culture, died in Miami on May 11, 1981. Twenty years after his death, Bob Marley is remembered in the world. The legend is relived.

His name was Robert Nesta Marley and was born in 1945, as a result of the union of a Jamaican woman with an officer from the British Armada, born in Liverpool. Due to the pressures of his family in England, the Captain abandoned his son shortly after. In Nine Miles, his hometown, spent his childhood and soon showed an extraordinary talent for music, recording at the age of 16 his first songs: Judge Not, One Cup Of Coffee. In Kingston he met Neville O´Riley, alias Bunny, the person that will accompany him some years later jointly with Peter Tosch in the band named the "Wailing Wailers".

First Successes Bob called Bunny and Peter to definitively form an official band in 1964. The new band soon had fans and followers, especially within the rastafari movement. Percussionist Alvin Patterson was one of his followers who introduced them to producer Clement Dodd. In mid 1963, Dodd listened to the Wailing Wailers and determined to record their music and a successful rising tide emerged in the world of music. Rastafari religion attracted Bob, Bunny and Peter from the very moment they knew it. Thus their music began showing the influence of this movement, giving rise to spiritual and social songs that undoubtedly turned into the grounds of their artistic legacy. Then the band had another artistic name: "The Wailers". They had their golden opportunity in 1972 when they were hired by Island Records. The executives of this record company early realized that they should be launched and promoted at an international level. Both LP’s "Catch a Fire" and "Burnin," soon became the new phenomenon of the musical industry in 1973. Island Records promoted and arranged the tour of the band along England and the USA. Shortly after attaining world success, Tosh and Bunny determined to abandon the band in 1975. "The Wailers" was then termed "Bob Marley & The Wailers". Bunny and Peter were replaced by the I- Threes, a female trio made up by Bob’s wife, Rita Anderson, plus Marcia Griffiths and Judy Mowatt. In 1976 "Rastaman Vibration" was released and soon headed the US hit lists. His great international success enabled that he were also acclaimed in his homeland, Jamaica, as one of the leaders of the rastafari faith, expressed and materialized in his musical compositions. In the following years, other hits will attain a high rate in sales as "Kaya" which included apologies to the power of ganja or marihuana, one of the pleasures enjoyed by Bob Marley. "Survival" appeared in 1979, the ninth album of the band with the known record company, Island Records. After his tour of Europe in 1980 where he hit all the records of audience attendance in his concerts, Bob felt seriously ill. He has for some time being suffering from a cancer that was plaguing his body. He finally died in a hospital of Miami on May 11, 1981.

Rastafarianism

It is a political-oriented religion, whose main characteristic is not to accept the values imposed by the dominating ideology. It was originated in Ethiopia. It was Marcus Garvey who introduced this movement in Jamaica in 1945. Bob Marley was one of his most fervent leaders and defenders.