Robert
Nesta Marley was a Jamaican singer, songwriter, guitarist, and social change activist.
To this day, Bob Marley continues to be the most famous reggae music legend. He
recorded numerous music hits with "The Wailers" and then after their
breakup in 1974 as Bob Marley and "The Wailers" including "No Woman,
No Cry", "Exodus", "Redemption Song", and "One Love". In addition to speaking
about social change in many of his songs, Bob Marley also used his music to help
promote freedom, peace and reconciliation, and equal rights for all. In 1976 he
performed the free "Smile Jamaica" concert in an effort to bring two
warring Jamaican political parties together, despite the fact that three days
earlier he and his wife were attacked by a politically motivated gunman in their
home and sustained serious injuries. In 1978 he again performed another political
concert, the "One Love Peace Concert," and brought the two warring political
leaders on-stage to shake hands. His 1979 album Survival, was his most political,
with songs like "Africa Unite" and "Wake Up and Live" expressing
his strong support for African struggles. The compilation album, Legend,
released after his early death from cancer, sold more than 12 million copies,
and remains the best-selling reggae album ever. Bob Marley was posthumously inducted
into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 and in 1999, Time magazine
named Bob Marley & The Wailers' record Exodus the "greatest album
of the 20th century."
