Bob Marley

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Bob Marley was born in Nine Miles, St. Anns, Jamaica, and was raised in Trenchtown. Robert is famous for his reggae music that inspires millions of people because he sings about world peace and love. His date of birth is February 6th, 1945. His father, Norval Sinclair Marley, was a British Marine and his mother, Cedella `Ciddy`Malcom, was a normal native Jamaican. His father soon after left him and his wife as they had little contact. He still financially supported his family. Bob was five when his father went to Kingston, Jamaica and he hadn`t seen his mother for over one year. Soon after, he saw her again and he decided to live with his mother in Trenchtown, which is known for its rough Jamaican ghettos.

When Bob was sixteen years old he released his first song called `Judge Not`. This song did not do too well. Bob knew that his first song wouldn`t be the best so it did not discourage him. In 1965 he pursued his career and formed a group with two men named Bunny Livingstone and Peter McIntosh. Bob wrote most of the group's material that they played and sang. The group released `Simmer Down,``Rule Them Rudie`and Ìt Hurts To Be Alone'; all these songs were major hits in Jamaica.

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In 1966, Bob Marley married his girlfriend, Rita Anderson. The day after, he went to the United States and stayed for a good period of time so he could get good financing on his next record release. Rita and Bob had their first child the year after they got married. She was named Cedella after his mothers name. Soon after, they had there own recording label which soon ended, that same year ,but they were able to release a single called `Bend Down Low`.

Their next child, David (Ziggy), was born in 1968. The Wailers kept making singles and not albums and shortly after, they formed another label called Tuff Gong, as they finnaly reached some success. The Wailers were already famous in the Caribbean and were unknown to the rest of the world. In 1971 they got a break; Island Records was willing to give them 8,000 pounds if they would produce a full album. They were the first reggae band to make so much money in one album and have that much success and were able to access the best recording studios. That year, they produced two albums named,`Catch a Fire` and 'Burnin`, those albums included the hit singles `Get Up Stand Up`and 'Ì Shot The Sheriff.`The group began to tour extensively to the United States and the United Kingdom. When Eric Clapton covered the hit single `I Shot The Sheriff`the group^had made it; they had successfully soared to instant fame.

After their success in the U.S., they changed their group name to Bob Marley and the Wailers and released an album called `Natty Dread.`The album also had `No Woman No Cry', which is the most popular song that they ever made. Bunny and Peter left Bob to have their own solo careers, and they were shortly replaced by newer members. In 1976 reggae music was a hit in the United States. Bob Marley and the Wailers were named `Band of the Year`and their album `Rastaman Vibration` flew up the number one hit charts. On December 3rd, 1976, he was supposed to play at a concert but it was rescheduled to December 5th at a presidential candidate`s election rally because there was an assassination attempt made on him. People believe [the assasination attempt was prompted by fear] that Bob`s music would change the vote. Although he recieved two gun shot wounds, the brave man performed anyway and then left for the UK.

Bob Marley and the Wailers went on and produced another hit album called `Exodus`in 1977. The release of this album propelled Bob to the position of international superstar. Later, in May of the same year, Bob's doctors found that he had cancer in his toe. They wanted to remove it but Bob was against it because of his Rastafarian religion. In July the tour `Exodus` was cancelled out. In the year 1978 the band had another album called `Kaya`. Bob returned to Jamaica to perform a concert for their new album that just came out `One Love Peace.` Thats year Bob Marley was awarded a Peace Medal from the United Nations. He had traveled to Africa for the first time, he also made stops in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Zimbabwe.

They continued touring in the US and in Europe as they released a few more new albums named `Uprising.`In 1980, Bob fell badly ill. The cancer he had in his toe spread higher and higher and soon after, his liver, stomach, and his brain were deeply infected. Bob almost fainted during a concert in New York at the Madison Square Garden, in September. The day after the concert he was jogging through the park and he fell to the ground and fainted and was rushed to the nearest hospital. The doctors said that the tumur in his brain was enlarging by the day and that he had less than a month to live. Bob insisted on continuing the tour and he performed an amazing show in Pîttsburgh in the month of September. His wife, Rita, was not happy with his decision to spend his final days touring rather than being at home with his family and Bob cancelled the tour the next day. He soon went to Miami where he was baptized at an Ethiopian Orthodox church on November 4th. In a last effort to save his life, five days later Bob flew to a treatment center in Germany with his wife, Rita. Three months later on May 11th, 1981, Robert Nesta Marley died at the very young age of 36 years old.

Bob Marley to me, is a hero of reggae music that is very helpful to millions of people around the world. He helps people by letting them listen to his music because it's about peace and glory which would calm people down if they're angry or stressed out over something. He was very brave too; he was shot twice in the stomach and still performed that same night at the concert. When he had his cancer in his toe, he'd rather die because his religion is Rastafarian and he did not want to get [his toe] removed because it is not what they believe is acceptable to do. So he was diagnosed with cancer in his toe and it quickly spread up and got to his liver, stomach and even his brain. His cause of death was a brain tumor.

Bob Marley had a funeral held in Jamaica, on May 21st. Thousands of fans and family members, including the prime minister of Jamaica gathered around his funeral to pray for this hero who has inspired millions of people to live happily and strive for world peace. His body was taken back to his birth place in Nine Miles, Jamaica where it rests in a mausoleum where to this day you can still visit.