-
Birth
Robert Nesta Marley is born in Nine Miles, St Ann's, Jamaica, the son of a middle-aged white British naval officer and teenage Jamaican mother who are shown in the picture. -
Records First Song
Records his first song in Kingston, Judge Not, recorded by legendary reggae producer Leslie Kong. -
The Wailers
He forms the original Wailers - then known as the Teenagers - with Peter Tosh, Bunny Livingstone, Junior Braithwaite, Beverley Kelso and Cherry Smith. Later, the band, who change their name to Bob Marley and the Wailers, record over 70 songs for producer Coxsone Dodd, including many tracks Marley would re-record to international acclaim in the 1970s. -
Marrying Rita
Marley marries soul singer Rita Anderson, a member of The Soulettes and later the I-Threes, with whom he will have five children. Shortly after marrying, he moves to the US to work in a factory. -
Creates Record Label
Marley forms his own record label, Tuff Gong. -
Rise to Fame
Bob Marley and the Wailers sign to Chris Blackwell's Island Records. They release the album Catch a Fire, the first to make a major impression in music markets outside the Caribbean. Livingston and Tosh, however, leave the band to embark on solo careers -
Global Stardom
The band release the seminal album Natty Dread, which contains their landmark song No Woman, No Cry. Marley becomes a star all over the globe -
Assassination Attempt
Marley and wife Rita are injured in an assassination attempt in Jamaica. Days later, he takes to the stage with his arm in a sling -
Football Accident
Marley breaks one of the toes on his right foot in a football accident in Paris. Doctors find cancerous cells and remove them -
One Love Peace Concert
He held the One Love Peace Concert in Kingston, bringing the leaders of Jamaica's rival political factions to the stage to shake hands -
Cancer Spreads
Marley and The Wailers kick off the year with a concert in the newly-independent African nation of Zimbabwe. Later in the year, while jogging in New York's Central Park, Marley collapses. Doctors discover cancer has spread to his lungs, liver and brain.Bob Marley loses his dreads in the treatment. -
Death of Bob Marley
Marley dies in hospital in the US, aged 36.
