Nesta Robert Marley is born on February 6th in the small village of Nine Miles in Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica to 18-year old Cedella Booker. His father Norval Sinclair Marley, a white Jamaican had married his mother at the beginning of her pregnancy, and left town the next day.
Enrolls at the Stepney All Age School in Nine Miles and around this time he begins reading the palms of villagers and telling their fortunes. His father Norval soon returns and takes him to live with the wealthy Marley family in Kingston. After almost a year, Cedella learns that he is not living with his father's family, but with a sickly woman, Mrs. Grey, where he is providing care and assistance for the ailing woman.
Cedella brings her son back home to Stepney and he continues his schooling at the Stepney All Age School where he befriends Neville "Bunny" Livingston, the son of his mother's boyfriend. Soon after he declares he is finished with palm reading and is now singing.
He moves to the Trench Town ghetto in Kingston to join his mother who had been working and living there during the week and commuting back to Stepney on weekends. He enrolls at Ebenezer, a private school and maintains his friendship with Bunny Livingston who was now living nearby. Together they make homemade guitars from sticks and cans and practice songs that Cedella teaches them, sometimes writing their own.
Leaves school at 14 years old and at the advice of his mother apprentices at a welders shop. Struggling to survive, like many Trench Town residents, he would often take meals at a "kitchen" where his friend Vincent "Tartar" Ford was selling small local dishes. Marley later credits the lyrics and the subsequent royalties for "No Woman, No Cry" to Vincent, acknowledging that he would have gone hungry many times if not for the aid of his friend.
After a painful welding accident where a piece of metal flies into his eye, Marley gives up welding and focuses on music, joining with friends Bunny Livingston, and Peter Tosh (McIntosh). They call themselves "The Teenagers" and Marley is now being called Bob.
Records the ska singles "Judge Not (Unless You Judge Yourself)", "Terror", and "One Cup of Coffee" at a small studio under the pseudonym Bobby Martell with producer Leslie Kong on his Beverley label.
Daughter Imani Carole is born to Marley and his girlfriend Cheryl Murray on May 22nd.
Forms a group with Bunny Livingston (later known as Bunny Wailer), Peter McIntosh (later known as Peter Tosh), Junior Braithwaite, Beverley Kelso and Cherry Smith calling themselves "The Teenagers" and later changing their name to "The Wailing Rudeboys" then to "The Wailing Wailers" before settling on simply "The Wailers." Their first single, "Simmer Down," becomes a #1 hit on Jamaica's JBC Radio chart. The group dress is matching Motown-esque suits and they sport close-cropped haircuts.
Weds Cuban born Alpharita "Rita" Constantia Anderson, a singer in the trio group "The Soulettes" on February 10th. The next day he leaves his wife behind to find work in Wilmington, Delaware where his mother was now living. He takes a succession of jobs – from a lab assistant at DuPont, to the Chrysler assembly line.
Returns to Jamaica in November and sets up his own label, the Wail 'N' Soul 'M record store in Kingston. He soon converts to the Rastafarian religion as his wife had done in his absence and begins dreading his hair and following a natural diet in the tradition of the religion.
Daughter Cedella is born to Marley and Rita on August 23rd.
The Wailers sign with African-American producer Danny Sims and churn out over eighty songs on the JAD Records label.
Son David "Ziggy" is born to Marley and Rita on October 17th.
The Wailers release "Soul Rebels", their first album to be released outside of Jamaica.
Alan "Skill" Cole, a Jamaican soccer star and The Wailers' manager, forms the label "Tuff Gong" with ten dollars, and shares ownership of the company with Bob and the other two members of the group. "Tuff Gong" was the nickname given to Marley for his ability to defend himself in the rough Trench Town neighborhood. "Trench Town Rock" is the first song to be released on the label.
Despite his relative success as a musician Bob Marley was still struggling financially and he moves with his wife and children to the United States to once again live with his mother in Delaware. His son Stephen is born to Rita on April 20th in Delaware. Meanwhile, son Rohan is born to Marley and his girlfriend Janet Hunt on May 19th. When the draft of the Vietnam War catches up with Bob Marley he returns to Jamaica and soon after The Wailers sign with Chris Blackwell of Island Records.
The Wailers release their first album, "Catch a Fire", on Island Records on April 13th.They tour in the UK and appear on BBC TV and BBC One Radio. A daughter, Karen, is born to Marley and his girlfriend Janet Bowen in 1973.The Wailers release the militant-tinged album "Burnin" on October 19th, which includes the song "Get up, Stand Up".
The Wailers disband and Marley continues recording as "Bob Marley and The Wailers" with Aston "Family Man" Barrett, Carlton Barrett, Junior Marvin, Al Anderson, Tyrone Downie, Earl "Way" Lindo, Alvin "Seeco" Patterson and the "I Threes" as back-up vocals, which includes his wife Rita. They release "Natty Dread" on October 25th - their first album as "Bob Marley and The Wailers."
The single "No Woman No Cry" becomes a hit. A son, Julian, is born to Marley and his girlfriend Lucy Pounder on June 4th.
Releases the album "Rastaman Vibration" on April 30th and it spends four weeks on the Billboard Top Ten chart.
Son Ky-Mani is born to Marley and his girlfriend, table tennis champion Anita Belnavis, on February 26th.
Marley is shot two times when gunmen storm his house on December 3rd. His wife and his manager Don Taylor also sustain gunshot wounds. After being treated at the hospital, Marley hides out in the Blue Mountains then resurfaces on December 5th to perform at the free concert "Smile Jamaica," meant to quell political unrest, at the National Heroes Park in Kingston, Jamaica. He then relocates to England.
Releases the album "Exodus" on June 3rd.
After breaking his toe in a soccer accident in July, Marley is diagnosed with malignant melanoma, a skin cancer.
Releases the album "Kaya" on March 23rd, which stays on the British album charts for 56 consecutive weeks and includes the hit singles "Exodus," "Waiting In Vain," "Jamming," "One Love," and "People Get Ready."
Returns to Jamaica to perform at the "One Love Peace Concert" on April 22nd in Jamaica to once again quell political unrest. Political rivals Michael Manley, leader of the People's National Party, and Edward Seaga, leader of the opposition, shake hands on stage at the request of Bob Marley.
Son Damian is born to Miss World 1976, Cindy Breakspeare, on July 21st.
Releases the double live album "Babylon by Bus" on November 10th.
Performs at the Amandia Festival on July 21st in Boston, Massachusetts in opposition to South African apartheid and releases the politically charged album "Survival" on October 2nd, which addresses the struggles of Africans.
Performs in Zimbabwe in April to celebrate the country's independence from the United Kingdom.
Releases the album "Uprising" on June 10th, containing songs addressing the Rastafarian beliefs. The album rises to #41 on Billboard's Black Album chart in North America and #45 on the Pop Albums chart.
Baptized by the Archbishop of the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian Church in Kingston, Jamaica on November 4th.
While jogging in New York's Central Park, Bob Marley collapses and it is discovered that his cancer has spread to his lungs, liver and brain.
Awarded the Jamaican Order of Merit in February.
Marley goes to Germany to seek medical attention from a specialist, and on his return home to Jamaica he lands in Miami to seek emergency medical care at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital where he dies at the age of 36 on May 11th.
Daughter Makeda is born to Marley and his girlfriend Yvette Crichton on May 30th.
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