A SHORT LIVED STORY OF ROBERT NESTA MARLEY

 UNIVERSALLY KNOWN AS BOB MARLEY

His father, Norval Sinclair Marley, was a British citizen plantation superintendent on a working visit to Jamaica met his mother, a black teenager, named Cedella Booker. Cedella Booker's teen beauty attracted Norval Sinclair Marley and he moved in to live together with her and naturally Cedella became pregnant.

After persevering for nine months, Cedella Booker delivered the baby peacefully on the Thursday afternoon of February 6, 1945, in Nine Mile village, a district in Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica. She named the baby Robert Nesta Marley after his father who was nowhere to be found in Jamaica.

In February of 1966, Robert Nesta Marley married to Rita whose full name was Alfarita Constantia Marley OJ, OD, now lives in Miami, USA, is a Cuban-born Jamaican singer, songwriter and entrepreneur, while she was a backing vocalist for Bob Marley with the Wailers band.

A melanoma that started under Bob Marley’s big toenail wounded him while he was playing football in 1977. Marley was diagnosed with a malignant melanoma under this toenail. Bob Marley was very much into football and he was a very good player.

He battled with this injury and his doctor advised him to amputate his right big toe. He did not accept the amputation advice because he believed in Rasta No Abide Amputation. His melanoma spread, or metastasized, to other areas of his body and tragically cut his life short. Contrary to popular belief, the melanoma was not caused by a football injury, but rather was a symptom of the already existing cancer.

Despite his illness, he continued touring and was in the process of scheduling a world tour in 1980.

While Marley was flying home from Germany to Jamaica, his vital functions worsened. After landing in Miami, Florida, he was taken to the hospital for immediate medical attention. Bob Marley died on 11 May 1981 at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Miami (now University of Miami Hospital) at the age of 36. The spread of melanoma to his lungs and brain caused his death. His final words to his son Ziggy were "Money can't buy life”.

He was a member of the Ethiopian Coptic Orthodox Church and was baptized Berhane Selassie (Light of the Trinity) and he had become a Christian Rasta. His funeral celebration was a combination of Ethiopian Orthodox and Rastafarianism grace. Bob Marley was a singer, song writer, guitarist, composer and a footballer, buried back home near his birthplace in Nine Mile village, Jamaica.

The Marley Legacy

Some of my Favorites among the rest of his songs are Redemption Song, Three Little Birds (don't worry 'bout a thing, 'Cause every little thing is gonna be alright!), Is This Love, So Much Trouble In The World, Positive Vibration, Lively Up Yourself, Africa Unite and in fact all his songs are liberating.

In 1986, in honor of her famous husband, Rita Marley decided to convert Bob Marley's home into the Bob Marley Museum, became the Founder and Chairperson of the Robert Marley Foundation in 2000, the Bob Marley Trust and the Bob Marley Group of Companies.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!