Bob Marley

The original Wailers were formed in 1963 as a vocal trio consisting of Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Wailer (born Neville Livingston). After Tosh and Wailer left in 1974 to pursue solo careers, the band was renamed Bob Marley and the Wailers, with the I Threes providing backing vocals.

Bob Marley died on May 11, 1981, at age 36 from acral lentiginous melanoma, an aggressive form of skin cancer first detected under his toenail in 1977. Despite medical recommendations to amputate the toe, Marley initially declined for religious reasons tied to his Rastafari faith, and the cancer eventually spread throughout his body.

Bob Marley was a devoted adherent of the Rastafari movement, a spiritual tradition that emerged in Jamaica in the 1930s and reveres Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I as a divine figure. His faith profoundly shaped his lyrics, which consistently addressed themes of African unity, spiritual liberation, and resistance to oppression.

Bob Marley's most acclaimed albums include "Catch a Fire" (1973), "Rastaman Vibration" (1976), and "Exodus" (1977), which Time magazine named the best album of the 20th century. The posthumous compilation "Legend" (1984) remains one of the best-selling albums of all time, with over 25 million copies sold worldwide.