Reggae’s greatest icon, Bob Marley, left us 30 years ago on May 11, 1981, but his music and influence lives on.
The Bob Marley Foundation and the Bob Marley museum will be putting on an exhibit to mark the special occasion on Wednesday May 11, 2011.
More emphasis are usual placed on the commemoration of his birth, however, this year will also incorporate his death, according to manager of the Foundation and Museum, Jacqueline Lynch-Stewart.
Stewart said due to the significance of the 30th anniversary special arrangements will be made for the commemoration of the date at the museum located on Hope Road.
Bob Marley passed away at the age of 36 from cancer. He is credited with bringing reggae music mainstream. But his influence span far beyond reggae music. His wisdom and message gave him the power to heal a whole nation suffering from political turmoil and poverty.
In the 1970s, Bob Marley was hosting a free concert in Jamaica as an attempt to help heal the political tensions the country was going through. Bob, his wife Rita and his manager were wounded in an attack, leaving him suffering from gunshot wounds to his chest and arm. Nevertheless, Marley proceeded with the free concert a couple days later and, when someone asked him why he was still going through with it, he simply said, “The people who are trying to make this world worse aren’t taking a day off. How can I?”
Bob Marley from the small Caribbean island of Jamaica impact on the world is beyond recognition. By the end of the last century he was declared one of the most influential musicians of all time. In 1999 Time magazine dubbed Bob Marley and the Wailers’ Exodus the greatest album of the 20th Century, while the BBC named One Love the song of the millennium.
Bob Marley son, Stephen Marley has a simple message to all Marley fans to keep his father’s memory burning. “Spread his message of peace, love and equality,” he said.
Listen to one of Bob Marley greatest hits below.
