Bob Marley

Every year on May 11, we celebrate the death of Bob Marley, an essential artist who left us too soon, at the age of 36.

A look back at the career of this 200-million-selling reggae artist, from the birth of an icon to the launch of his cannabis brand.

1945. Birth of Robert Nesta Marley, known as Bob Marley, on February 6 in Nines Miles, Jamaica.

1963. He moved to Kingston, the Jamaican capital, where he met Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer, and form the ska and gospel-influenced band The Wailing Wailers.

1966. He marries Rita Anderson on January 10. Following the wedding, the Rastafarian King travels to Jamaica. His wife attended his meeting and declared that she had seen the holes in the hands and feet formed by the cross of Christ on the Rastafarian King. It was at this point that Bob Marley converted to the Rasta movement.

About the Rastafarian movement«

In the 1920s, an American pastor named James Morris Webb announced that the descendants of black slaves must return to Africa, to the sacred lands of Ethiopia, known as «Zion». This land is synonymous with a «promised» land, a sacred place to which African-Americans must return. They must escape the oppression of the prevailing Western world, symbolized as a new «Babylon». This movement is influenced by Jewish and Christian religions. Rastas have precise instructions to respect, drawn from biblical references: don't drink alcohol, don't eat meat, don't cut your hair (which gave rise to dreadlocks) and, above all, smoke ganja (an Indian word for cannabis). Cannabis is thus used in a religious and sacred way by the Rastas.

Bob Marley and the Rasta movement

Bob Marley converted following the Rasta King's meeting and respects all the precepts of the Rastafarians. He is a polygamist, has eleven acknowledged children and his songs are very much about Rasta philosophy. From 1974, He launched a solo career, producing reggae-influenced tracks that would leave a singular legacy in Western popular music.

I Shot the Sheriff (1973) This song symbolizes oppression and the use of cannabis. It tells the story of a man who killed the sheriff of his town. Bob Marley confided that the song was inspired by a true story. The song launched his career and put him on the international map.

«Smoking weed reveals you to yourself».»

In the 1970s, reggae hit the West like wildfire. Bob Marley not only popularized reggae music, but also the Rasta movement and hemp. He makes cannabis a symbol of liberation and progress, far removed from the materialism prevalent in Europe and the United States.

Reggae then gave birth to rap, directly influenced by Bob Marley. The «legacy» attributed to music and cannabis with artists we all know today, namely 2pac, Snoop Dogg or even Wiz Khalifa, which brings people together through the Rasta movement and cannabis. For Bob Marley, smoking cannabis was synonymous with a movement that was both political and spiritual. At the time, the singer was campaigning for hemp to be legalized.

1976. Bob Marley escaped a shoot-out at his home between two political opponents in Jamaica, the Socialist and Labour parties. He was wounded in the chest and arm, but still performed a concert in Kingston, in front of over 80,000 people.

Exodus

1977. Bob Marley goes into exile in London. This album has a double meaning: the exodus of Moses' people in the Bible and the exodus of Bob Marley himself, who had to leave Jamaica because of the previous shooting. The album enjoyed growing success, with world-famous tracks such as: Three Little Birds, So Much Thing to Say or even Jammin’. The album has two sides, the first relating the Rasta movement, while the second focuses on the theme of love, in particular his idyll at the time with Cindy Breaskpeare.

1980. Bob Marley performs a concert in France, at Le Bourget (Seine-Saint-Denis). Over 50,000 people attend.

1981. On May 11, Bob Marley died of melanoma in his foot at the age of 36, in Miami. Jamaica's prime minister at the time, Edward Seaga, gave a speech in his honor, in which he declared: «His voice was an omnipresent cry in our electronic world. His angular features, majestic looks, and caracolant style a vivid etching on the landscape of our minds.»

2014. Bob Marley's children launch a cannabis brand bearing the reggae singer's likeness Marley Natural which they describe as «one of the best cannabis brands rooted in life and heritage». The product subsequently went on sale, even though by 2014 only two US states had legalized cannabis: Washington State and Colorado. The launch of this brand creates some controversy.