Bob Marley Would Have Celebrated His 77 Birthday Today

Nicolas SimpsonFebruary 6, 2022, 2:05 PM

It has been 77 years since the passing of the Reggae legend Bob Marley and he would be celebrating his birthday today, and if he was still alive? We know it would have been done in fine style since the singer is one of the most decorated artistes to ever grace the world.

Robert Nesta Marley was born in Nine Mile in the year 1945, to mother Cedella Booker and father Norvel Sinclair Marley who was a Royal Marine out of England as well as a plantation overseer.

At the age of 10, his father passed away from a heart attack and when he was 12 he moved to Trench Town with his mother to seek a better life which led him to form a musical group called the Teenagers with Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer with whom he formed the Wailers group with and collaborated on several live studio albums together.

Some of the early producers the group worked with were Coxsone Dodd and Leslie Kong with songs such as “Judge Not”, ” Do You Still Me?” and “Terror”.

The Wailers also worked with Lee Scratch Perry in the 70’s who played a monumental role in the career of the entertainer by recording some of his most classical hits such as “Jah Live”, ” Duppy Conqueror”, “Punky Reggae”, and “Kaya”.

After splitting up with “Scratch” sometime in the ’70s over finances, Bob went on to work with Island Records in 1972-1977 with whom he recorded the albums; “Catch a Fire”, ” Legend”, “Rastaman Vibration”, “Exodus”, ” Natty Dread” and others.

Where his personal life is concerned Bob Marley got married to Rita Anderson in 1966 and shared three children with her, however, where his total number of offspring is concerned, reports have placed that number at 11 kids, “7 boys and 4 girls” with others still coming out claiming the legend as their father.

Otherwise from the music, Bob Marley also did work in the United States as well where he moved to in the ’60s and worked as a lab assistant and a forklift operator.

The entertainer has so many dynamics in his life that they are worth noting and one such thing is the tragedy that struck in 1976, that saw gunmen shooting up the singer’s hope road home, also hitting him however, he was very strong and motivated as he went to the “One Love” Peace concert two days after and performed his heart and soul out.

The political drama that was taking place in Jamaica at the time, resulting in Bob getting shot, eventually led to him leaving the country for England, only to return in 1978, after his diagnosis with a Malignant Melanoma cancer.

That did not hinder the legend as he continued to perform regardless of the pain he was experiencing, to the point where he even performed again at the One Love Concert in Kingston, causing the two major Political Party leaders at that time to shake hands.

Robert Nesta Marley, sadly passed away on the 11th day of May 1981, after the cancer he was diagnosed with began to spread uncontrollably out of the reach of treatment.

Even though gone, the Reggae icon will never be forgotten and we here at Yardhype would love your help in wishing Bob a happy birthday today.