Top 10 fascinating facts you didn't know about Bob Marley

25 March 2021  -  Omega

Prophet. The King of Reggae. Rastafarian. Poet. Spiritualist. The cornerstone of 21st-century music. United Nations Peace Medal winner. The first Jamaican to achieve international superstardom… There are so many ways to describe the late, great Robert Nesta Marley, and every person on the planet knows at least a handful of his songs. 

From the opening melody of ‘Three Little Birds’ to the lyrics of ‘No Woman, No Cry’, Bob Marley left an iconic legacy, with his music still inspiring top artists to this day. We’re sure you’re not the only one to be excited about the forthcoming musical about the legend himself, but while we wait for Get Up, Stand Up! The Bob Marley Musical to arrive in London’s West End, have a read through these top ten fascinating facts you didn't know about Bob Marley. 

Childhood

Born in the sleepy hills of Nine Mile in the Jamaican parish of St Ann in 1945, Bob Marley expressed an interest in music as early as primary school age. He used to make up songs with his friend Neville ‘Bunny’ Livingston and at the age of 8, he moved 60 miles south to Trenchtown - the tenement yards in Kingston, with his mother Cedella, Bunny and Bunny’s father. Around this time Marley began to learn the guitar, inspired by the American R&B he heard on the radio.

Tuff Gong nickname

You probably know ‘Tuff Gong’ as the name of the record label that Bob Marley and the Wailers created in 1970, but it was also his childhood nickname. ‘Tuff’ for being a savvy street kid in the ghettos of Kingston, and ‘Gong’ due to its Rastarafian connotations; borrowed from Leonard "The Gong" Howell who was a Jamaican religious leader and one of the first ever preachers of the Rasta movement. 

He could palm read

Bob was a deeply spiritual man, and as a young child he seemed to possess the spooky ability of being able to predict people’s futures through the art of palm reading! However, one day he stopped doing it altogether and decisively said "I'm not reading no more hand… I'm singing now." In a way, it was as if he predicted his own future!

His wife

Rita Marley (née Anderson) was born in Cuba but was brought up in Kingston by her aunt. In the mid-sixties, she auditioned for a band called the Soulettes, Bob was a mentor and manager for the band and through music they fell in love. They were married in February 1966, he was 21 and she was 19. Later, Rita joined the I-Threes; the backup singers for Bob Marley and the Wailers.

His children

Marley had a grand total of 11 children, although there is still speculation if there are any more due to his many affairs! Five children are Rita’s including her first born Sharon, who Bob adopted when he married Rita. Of the brood, Ziggy, his second-born and Damian, who he had with the beauty queen Cindy Breakspeare, have achieved international music success proving the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree!

Shot during an assassination attempt

Although uplifting and lyrical, Bob’s songs are also famously rife with political tensions and reflective of the tough experience of life in Jamaica. Due to his international stardom, political leaders from both the People's National Party and the Jamaica Labour Party were clamouring for his public approval. In the mid-seventies, he was publicly seen as a supporter of PNP and this is believed to be the reason behind the assaniation attempt on both him and Rita. He took a bullet in the arm and Rita received one to the head. Her dreadlocks actually saved her life. 

Ties to the UK

Shortly after the assasination attempt, Bob fled Jamaica with a sour taste in his mouth, and, for a while, vowed never to return. He sought solace in London and lived in Chelsea with Cindy Breakspeare, who was Miss Jamaica at the time. It was here that he and the Wailers finished writing their hit album Exodus, which featured classics such as One Love, Jammin’ and Waiting in Vain. He would try to play football every single day in Battersea Park. 

The story behind Three Little Birds

Possibly one of the most famous and joyful songs in Marley’s collection is Three Little Birds, and there is lots of speculation around his inspiration for writing it. Released on the Exodus album in 1977, many believe that there were three actual birds that would flutter down onto Bob’s windowsill when he lived on Hope Road in Kingston. Bob loved nature and a trio of brightly coloured canaries were said to inspire him. However, many others believe that ‘Three Little Birds’ was simply the pet name he used for his soulful back-up singers, the I-Threes. 

Rastafarianism

Marley was a devout Rasta; smoking marijuana to increase spiritual awareness, eating Ital food, which is completely natural, and seeing Africa as paradise on earth. Black self-empowerment is hugely important and Bob’s music helped spread this and the Rasta way of life around the globe. To this day, many people regard Marley as a modern-day Rastafarian prophet. 

Legacy 

It’s no secret that Bob Marley was, and remains, a huge inspiration for Rastas, fans and fellow-musicians across the entire planet. He believed in equality, fighting oppression and gave hope to people who had none. American music executive, Larry Mestel, once said, "There isn’t a crevice of the world where Bob Marley isn’t a god’’ and that still rings true today. After his passing in 1981, Bob Marley entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and posthumously sold over 75 million albums. Is it any wonder that he is one of the biggest earning dead celebrities of all time?