Reggae Legend Reggae Legend

Bob Marley blazed a trail for reggae from 1962, when he cut his fi rst single as an inexperienced teenager, to 1980, when he played the last of his concerts. The decades after his death he remains the music's undisputed superstar, revered and recognized the world over.

Marley's career not only introduced Jamaican music to the world, it saw the singer overcome a difficult childhood to make his mark. His lyrics, often delivered in thick Jamaican patois, nevertheless spoke eloquently of One Love, urging his listeners to "Stand up for your rights" and forging musical links with the punk movement.

Marley, born in 1945, worked with Bunny Livingston and Peter "Tosh" McIntosh as the Wailers (initially Wailin' Wailers) in the mid Sixties. Early songs bore the unmistakable American soul influence of James Brown and Sam & Dave, but as the Wailers moved on from vocal group to fully-fledged band so his writing grew in maturity.

He traveled to Europe with Johnny Nash, for whom he wrote the hit Stir It Up, and aimed his music at European ears. Eric Clapton's 1974 version of I Shot The Sheriff topped the US chart, raising Marley's profile in that country.

The long-awaited British chart breakthrough came with the single No Woman, No Cry, from the acclaimed Live! album, and all seemed set for further success until illness set in.

This publication tells his story in words and pictures, adding a historical perspective to a music that still speaks to us today.