Biography and Musical Career of Bob Marley

Bob Marley was born in Jamaica to a white father and black mother, something that would mark him for the rest of his life because he liked to repeat that the relationship between his parents repeated 'the history of slavery', in which 'the white man gets the female black and the pregnant '. His mother Cedella confessed that, during adolescence, Bob used to sink into deep depressions due to their mixed ancestry. Her family in Trench Town forced the breakdown of the relationship between Cedella and Mr. Marley because 'they did not want white blood in the family.' At age ten, she moved with her mother to a monoblock in Kingston. Cedella's new concubine was Taddy Livingston, who had a son the same age as Bob. In the late fifties, Robert moved with his mother to Kingston, the capital. It was the city where the inhabitants of rural areas came to improve their economic situation. Unfortunately for most, their destination was the poor and miserable neighborhoods. Great influence had in the life of Bob Marley the religion Rastafarí, mixture of biblical prophecies, naturist philosophy and Black Nationalism. In 1930 Ras Tafari Makkonen was crowned Emperor of Ethiopia, renamed Hailè Selassiè. According to an old prophecy, this king would free the black race from white dominion. Many Jamaicans, believers in prophecy, chose him as the representative of his new religion. It was in this environment that Bob Marley met Neville O'Riley Livingstone (Bunny) and Peter McIntosh. Together they began to play, influenced by the music of Ray Charles, Fats Domino, Brook Benton or Curtis Mayfield.

'Bunny' and he grew up together and they became brothers. When he was not trumpeting in the streets of Trench Town, Marley sang and played football, and soon fell under the protection of Joe Higgs, a singer with several albums to his credit that promoted the hidden talents of Kingston. In the late fifties, Marley and Bunny met Hubert Winston McIntosh, who soon renamed himself Peter Tosh. That's how the Wailing Wailers were born, and almost immediately they gained a neighborhood celebrity for their vocal arrangements, with the voice of Marley's tenor navigating between Tosh's baritone record and Bunny's falsetto. The fourth voice was in charge of Junior Braithwaite. When his mother left him to emigrate to the United States in 1964, Marley spent little time sleeping in the courtyard of Vincent Ford, a time of gold that he recreated in 'No Woman No Cry' (in fact, he even gave him credit by the letter to Ford, who never wrote a line). In 1963 they formed a group, 'Wailing Wailers', releasing a first single that would reach the first place in the Jamaican charts. Bob Marley became one of the first to write songs about young delinquents in the Kigston ghetto. In 1966, Bob Marley married Rita Anderson, and went to live with his mother for a few months. She was living in the United States, with her new husband. Upon his return to the island, the belief in Rastafarí religion grew, reflected in his songs. With his friends Bunny and Peter, they create a new group, 'The Wailers'. Due to the 'spirituality' that emanated from their songs, they had trouble finding representatives, which left them with much of the success they expected. In the early seventies, they allied with Lee Perry, a producer who revolutionized his work, resulting in some of his best works, such as 'Soul Rebel', 'Small Ax', '400 Years', etc. In 1972, the group released their first album, 'Catch a Fire', which was very successful, which led the record company to tour England and the United States. In 1973 he released his new album, 'Burnin', with new versions of his old songs.

After the release of the album 'Babylon By Bus', the result of a tour of Europe and America, Marley visits Africa, a fact that inspired a new album, 'Survival', a tribute to the African homeland. In 1980 he published 'Uprising', whose success was overwhelming, prompting a new European tour that broke all attendance records. At the end of the European tour, Marley fell seriously ill with cancer, caused by a wound that had been made a few years earlier. On May 11, 1981 Bob Marley died at a hospital in Miami at the age of 36. His body was moved to his hometown, Nine Mile, where he rests in a mausoleum. The prime minister and high-ranking personalities from his country attended his funeral.