Bob "Nesta" Marley

The Story of Bob Nesta Marley

Bob Marley was born to a middle aged couple on February

6th, 1945, in St. Anna Jamaica. He was raised in rural Jamaica mainly by his mother, with little support from his father.

Bob Marley was the first and greatest superstar to come from the so called "Third World". His popularity, brought by his songs of determination, rebellion, and justice, found a worldwide audience of reggae music listeners. Marley is responsible for integrating reggae (and all its political & religious views) into the world culture.

Marley's social and political activeness showed in both through his music and through his personal life had a tremendous impact in his own country. He was such a prominent figure outside of music that an assassination attempt was made on his life on December 3, 1976. Bob and his wife Rita, as well as other guests at his home in Jamaica, suffered from almost fatal bullet wounds. Bob had agreed to perform a national concert, 'Smile Jamaica', on December 5th for the Jamaican government with the condition that the Prime Minister would not impose any political overtones on the event. A week after the press release announcing the Bob Marley Smile Jamaica concert Prime Minister Michael Manley called a national election. Supporters of the opposition would now perceive Bob as playing for Manley and many believed that the election could be swayed by a Marley endorsement. Shortly after the announcement Bob began receiving death threats and two days before the concert he was shot. On the day of the concert Bob decided that the show must go on and so he performed in front of a crowd of 80 thousand people.

In 1977 doctors treating Bob for a soccer injury discovered that he had cancer.

As Bob grew more and more famous, so did his voice and influence grow in matters from politics to religion. Bob performed at a benefit for African Freedom fighters in Boston in 1978. In the same year Bob brought the Prime Minister and the leader of the opposition