Marley, Bob, 1945–81, Jamaican reggae singer, songwriter, and guitarist. As a member of the Wailers, a reggae band that included Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh, and later on his own, Marley propelled reggae to worldwide popularity. His commitment to nonviolence and the Rastafarian religion are transparent in his music, and his smoky tenor and loping reggae beat combine to enhance the appeal of his political message.

Marley, Bob

orig. Robert Nesta Marley

(born Feb. 6, 1945, Nine Miles, St. Ann, Jam.—died May 11, 1981, Miami, Fla., U.S.) Jamaican singer and songwriter. Born in the hill country of Jamaica to a white father and a black mother, Marley was living in the Kingston slum known as Trench Town in the early 1960s when he formed the Wailers with Peter Tosh and Bunny Livingston (Bunny Wailer). Mixing the Jamaican musical forms of ska and rock steady with rock, they helped to pioneer reggae and became its first international stars with releases such as Catch a Fire (1973), Exodus (1977), and Uprising (1980). Marley's political lyrics, grounded in his belief in the Jamaican religious movement Rastafari and calling for social and economic justice, made him a voice for the poor and dispossessed. His reputation grew after his death from cancer at age 36.