Bob Marley (Robert Nesta Marley) was born on 6 February 1945 in Nine Miles in the parish of St.Ann, Jamaica. His father (Norval Sinclair Marley) was a English marine-officer and his mother (Cedella 'Ciddy' Malcom) was a native Jamaican who lived in Rhoden Hall. When Bob was 8-9 years old he and his mother moved to Trench Town (West-Kingston)
At age 16 Bob wanted to record an album. Like other Jamaican kids he saw the music as an escape of the though reality. Jimmy Cliff, a local musician, had already made a few singles and introduced Bob to producer Leslie Kong. Bob made his first single Judge Not in 1961, but this record and the next one One More Cup Of Coffee (1962) didn't do well. Bob left Kong after he didn't received a paycheck from him.
In 1964 Bob Marley founded the band The Wailers which became very populair in 1965. Bob Marley acted as the leader of the band and he wrote most of the material. In 1966 Bob Marley married Rita Anderson. The same year Rita and her cousin joined The Wailers.
In 1967 was Bob and Rita´s first child, Cedella, born. The year after was their son David (better known as Ziggy) born.
In december 1971 Bob went to Chris Blackwell of Island Records and he asked Chris if the band could get a recorddeal. Chris gave them 8,000 pounds (in advance) to make an album. They made the first reggae-album Catch A Fire and they make succesful tours through the U.K. and the States. In the year 1976 the reggae-mania boomed in the States. Rolling Stone Magazine named Bob Marley & The Wailers 'Band of the year' in their February issue
In May of 1977, during the Exodus tour, Bob found out that he had cancer. A toe had to be amputated, but Bob refused because that would have been against his believe of the Rastafari. On 20 July 1977 the remaining concerts of the Exodus Tour were cancelled.
1978 the band capitalised on their chart success with the release of Kaya, an album which hit number four in the UK Chart the week of release. The album showed Bob in a different mood: love songs and homages to the power of ganja (marihuana). The rastafari smoke ganja to come closer to Jah (God).
In September 1980 it bacame clear that Bob had a brain tumor and he had, according to the doctors, not even a month to live. Bob went to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre in New York where the doctor's diagnosed cancer in the brain, lung and stomach Three months later, on 11 May 1981, Bob died in a hospital in Miami. Bob Marley's funeral in Jamaica on 21 May 1981 could be compared with one of a king. Hundreds of thousands of people visited the funeral to celebrate the fact that Bob Marley was a real 'Jah Rastafari' after all.
After the funeral Bob Marley's body was taken to his birthplace were it rests in a mausoleum.