Bob Marley
Art and culture
Who was Bob Marley?
• A Jamaican reagge singer, songwriter, musician, rhythm
guitarist
• Became well known by his reggae song as “No Woman
No Cry”, “I Shot the Sheriff”, “Could You Be Loved”,
“Jamming” and many others
• The album Legend was the best selling reggae album in
the world in 1984
• It is selling more than 12mil copies worldwide
Jamaica
Robert ,Bob‘ Nesta Marley
Childhood
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Born in Jamaica, Nine Mile, 6 February 1945
Father – a white soldier
Mother – a black singer in church choir
faced questions about his own racial identity throughout
his life
• Once he said: “My father was a white, my mother black
and I was something between them. I don't dip on
nobody's side. The only truth is in God. He created me
as black and white man.”
Career
• Left school at the age of 14 and said: “If I graduated all
those school, I would be a living idiot now.”
• Started to make music with his friend Nevill Levingston
• Marley said about music: „How can music be so perfect
when people make it? The music opens gate to heaven.
It takes you to different places. It is beautiful.“
• After few changes he and his other 2 friends, Nevill and
Peter, formed a music band “The Wailers” in 1863
• They started to make new songs which were mainly
about love, freedom, revolution, laws and destiny
“The Wailers”
• Their first album – “Catch A Fire”
• Eric Clapton recorded one song from this album – “I Shot
the Sheriff” and raised Marley’s international profile
• “The Wailers” broke up in 1976 and all members started
their solo careers
• Despite the break up, Marley continued as “Bob Marley
& The Wailers”
• Recorded probably the most popular song “No Woman
No Cry”
Diagnosis of Cancer
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Marley injured his toe during the playing football in Paris
Doctors found the tumour
Marley refused the sergery
Rastafari believe that the body must be as one unit
He said: „Rastafari refuses the amputation. I do not allow
to take my body to pieces. He regarded doctors as
cheaters, crooks
• The rest of the tour was cancelled
During his favourite game
Marley’s Death
• While flying home from Germany to Jamaica Marley's
vital functions worsened
• After landing in Miami, Florida, he was taken to the
hospital for immediate medical attention
• Died at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Miami on the
morning of 11 May 1981, at the age of 36
• His final words to his son Ziggy were “Money can't buy
life”
Legend is a greatest hits collection of Bob Marley
& The Wailers songs, released in 1984
• Marley was buried near his birthplace in Jamaica
• In the coffin, there were his red guitar Gibson, a football, a
ganja bud, his ring and the Bible
• In April 1981, Bob was declared as a national hero
• The day of his death is called as the Day of Sorrow in the
whole Jamaica
• Marley’s music has remained popular many years after his
death
• He was the man who introduced the world to the mystic
power of reggae to the whole world
• In 1999, Time magazine chose Bob Marley & The Wailers'
Exodus as the greatest album of the 20th century.
His personal life
• Marley had a number of children
• three with his wife Rita
• two adopted from Rita's previous relationships
• several others with different women
• The Bob Marley official website says about his eleven
children
• Bob Marley was a member of the Rastafari movement,
whose culture was a key element in the development of
reggae
What is a Rastafari movement (Rasta)?
• is a monotheistic, new religious movement that arose in
Jamaica in the 1930s
• The origin of this religion is in Africa in Ethiopia
• It is not only a religion but also a lifestyle
• The major faith – Heile Selassie is alive God for the
black race
• H. Selassie was the black Emperor of Ethiopia
• He is viewed as the Messiah who will lead the people of
Africa to freedom
Some features of Rasta
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3 colours – red, green and gold
Red - signifies the blood of martyrs
Green - the vegetation and beauty of Ethiopia
Gold – the wealth of Africa
Sometimes the black colour is used – colour of Africa
• Wearing the dreadlock on
Rastafaris’ heads
• Rastas maintain that locks
are supported by Leviticus
21,5: „They shall not make
baldness upon their head,
neither shall they shave off
the corner of their beard, nor
make any cuttings in the
flesh.“
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Marihuana = ganja
Is used for spiritual events
Its use is described in the Bible:
Psalm 104,14 „...and He gave grass to cattle,
livestock and as plant to people“
• Exodus 10,11 „...eat every plant on the Earth“.
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Food – I-tal meal
Natural food without any chemicals
Many rastafaris (also B.M.) are vegans or vegetarians
prefer natural and vegetal drink
Alcohol, milk and coffee are regarded as an artificial
products
Marley’s
quotation:
“If you laugh, the
whole world
will laugh with
you.
If you cry, you
will cry alone”.