TOMORROW, many people around the world, especially in Jamaica where he was born and raised, will commemorate the birth anniversary of legendary Reggae icon, Bob Marley. As such, we thought we’d enlighten you about five facts about the artist you may not have known:1: Marley was born in 1945 in a small town in Jamaica called Nine Mile, but his family moved to the capital, Kingston, where his career would later begin. Marley’s mother, Cedella, raised him without the help of his father after he turned five.

2: Before Marley pursued music, he worked as a welder while he was a teenager. One of the groups he was a part of at an early age was called ‘The Wailing Wailers’. The band worked with Studio One, a famous record label in Jamaica, and is considered one of the early pioneers of Reggae music.

3: An assassination attempt was made on Marley before a concert in Jamaica in 1976. Marley and his wife, Rita, were both injured in that attack, which saw him leaving Jamaica for over a year.

4: Besides Jamaica, Marley’s music also had a major influence in Africa. His album, “Survivor”, was filled with political commentaries and songs about the country of Zimbabwe. He even held a free concert there at Rufaro Stadium.

5: Marley died of cancer in 1981, and was buried in Nine Mile. He has been honoured for his numerous achievements, many of them posthumously.
Among those awards are: A Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award; a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; a street named after him; and his own holiday, called Bob Marley Day, that is celebrated in Los Angeles in his honour. (iowastatedaily.com)