The Sunday Mail
Bob Marley
TOMORROW many Zimbabweans will join the rest of the world in commemorating the death of a legend – Bob Nester Marley – who died on May 11, 1981.
On this day 36 years ago, Marley was counting down his final hours in the land of the living as cancer took its toll and robbed the world of one of the greatest artistes to ever walk the face of the earth.
The reggae crooner will be remembered by Zimbabweans as the first international artiste to perform in an independent Zimbabwe as he set Rufaro Stadium ablaze on the eve of the 1980 independence celebrations.
The song “Zimbabwe” from his politically charged album, “Survivor”, is one of the most popular songs among locals as it brings back memories of the country’s period of transition, having been written in support of the guerrillas fighting against the Rhodesian government in the bush war.
Most of his music preached the emancipation of the black man and even today, his music is still inspirational on the local scene as the country is yet to win the struggle against neo-colonialism.
Among some of his greatest songs is “One Love”, “Redemption Song” and “Get Up, Stand Up” songs, which spread the message of love, unity, freedom and standing up for one’s rights.
Marley is a global icon, whose influence cannot be extinguished with his face still appearing on various reggae and Rastafari merchandise.
A devout Rastafarian, Marley helped spread the religion on the global stage through his spiritual lyrics and with the Rastafari community in Zimbabwe having steadily grown over the years, the significance of his death will not go unnoticed.
Commemoration shows have been organised at various venues across the country with some of them being held today.
In an interview with The Sunday Mail Leisure, one of the organisers of today’s Bob Marley Commemorations at Junction 24 in Harare, Trevor Hall aka Ras Jabu, said: “We will be celebrating Bob Marley, his works and his prophetic lyrics which relate to the current situation in Africa.
“If you listen to ‘Redemption Song’ you realise that even if we now have political freedom, we are still economically enslaved and as Africans we need to redeem ourselves in that respect.
“There is greater need for Africans to unite if we are to achieve greatness and defeat the mental slavery which is driving us apart and Bob’s song ‘Africa Unite’ talks about this.”
He said that Bob Marley should also be respected for marketing Zimbabwe to the world.
Born on the 6th of February 1945, Marley’s career took off in the early ‘60s with The Wailers, a group which had such names as Bunny Wailer, Peter Tosh and Cherry Smith.
The group went on to split but Marley kept the name as a solo artiste. His career was cut short by death, having belted out some of the finest tracks in history and performing over 300 concerts around the world.
Even in death, his net worth is believed to be over US$100 million, which is unsurprising considering that his music is still on the market and also receives airplay on radio stations from all over the world.
His greatness cannot be disputed as he has received numerous awards as well as honours posthumously.
In 1999, Time magazine named his 1977 “Exodus” the best album of the 20th century, TV network VH1 named it the 26th greatest album of all time and in 2003 the album was ranked number 169 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
In 2004 Rolling Stone ranked him number 11 on their list of 100 Greatest Artistes of All Time while the song “One Love” went on to be named song of the millennium by BBC.
Marley is one of the best-selling artistes of all time, having sold more than 75 million records.
Statues have been erected, books written, films made and roads named after this great icon who lives on 36 years after his death.
