Bob Marley 

Bob Marley was the world's most famous reggae musician, a singer, songwriter, and guitarist who celebrated Rastafarianism and was widely regarded as a prophet. 

Robert Nesta Marley was born on February 6, 1945, in Rhoden Hall, Jamaica. His father was a quartermaster with the British West Indian Regiment who spent most of his time away from home and died of a heart attack when the boy was just ten years old. Marley was raised by his mother, Cedella, in the tiny village of Nine Mile near St. Ann. They later moved to the capital, Kingston, where Marley had to toughen up and learn to defend himself from bullies who mocked his short stature and mixed-race origins. At school he befriended the boy who would become Bunny Wailer and they began to play music together. At the age of fourteen he left school to work as a welder's apprentice, but the musical partnership continued and the pair started working with Peter Tosh under the mentorship of experienced musician Joe Higgs. 

In 1962, Marley met music producer Leslie Kong, who helped him to release his first record, Judge Not. Though he didn't enjoy immediate stardom, Marley became convinced that music was what he wanted to focus his life on. He, Wailer, and Tosh formed The Wailing Wailers (later just The Wailers), releasing the single “Simmer Down” which became a #1 hit. They established a strong fan base by writing about life in the slums. Marley was tempted by an easier life when his mother remarried and moved to Delaware, but he moved there just long enough to earn the money he needed to finance his musical ambitions. Upon his return to he started wearing dreadlocks and became a devout Rastafarian. Expressing his religion through his music, he brought it to international attention, attracting controversy through his sacred use of cannabis but gradually gaining a worldwide following.

After the break-up of the original Wailers, Marley went on to work with musicians such as Junior Marvin, Al Anderson, and Tyrone Downie. Signing with Island Records, he produced the first reggae music to be successfully promoted through mainstream music venues around the world. He became an increasingly important political figure, holding a free concert in the National Heroes Park in Kingston in an attempt to bring together rival gang members and promote urban peace. Unfortunately this attracted unpleasant attention, and in December 1976 he was attacked in his home and shot. Lucky to escape with only minor wounds, he played one more defiant concert in his homeland before moving to London.

From their London base, Marley and his band launched several successful albums and toured Europe and Africa. But in 1980, Marley learned he had cancer. Though it was initially limited to his foot, his beliefs prohibited amputation and he struggled through eight months of alternative treatments as the disease spread throughout his body. Eventually he collapsed while jogging in New York City.  He died in Miami and was given a state funeral in Jamaica, attended by the country's top politicians, before being laid to rest in a mausoleum in Nine Mile where devotees continue to pay tribute to this day. 

Marley was married to Rita Anderson, adopting her daughters Sharon (from her previous marriage) and Stephanie (from a later affair). Together they had three children: Cedella, David (known as Ziggy Marley, later a successful reggae artist in his own right), and Stephen (who went on to become a music producer). He also had eight children by other women: Imani Carole, Robert, Rohan, Karen, Julian, Ky-Mani, Damien (by jazz artist and former Miss World Cindy Breakspeare), and Makeda. Numerous other young Jamaicans claim to be his descendants. 

YUDDY