Robert Nesta Marley

Departure from Zion

It was exactly 43 years on, 11th of May 1981 that one of the world’s most gifted musical superstar regarded as the most lyrically gifted musical artist ever, Robert Nesta Marley passed on.

Born as Nesta Robert Norval Marley to captain Norval Marley of the British Marine corps who was then 60 and 18 year old Jamaican teenager from St Anne in Rhoden hall, nine mile, Cedella Omeriah Malcolm on the 6th of February 1945 at the heat of world war 2, a Jamaican passport officer mistakenly changed his first two names when he first travelled out of the country.

Little did they know that they have procreated Jamaica’s greatest citizen of all time and one of the most prominent black personalities ever, captain Marley did return back from the West Indies, close to Jamaica where he was stationed to Britain at the end of the war, filed for a divorce and later died in 1955 at 70, when Nesta was 10.

Bob Marley, as he is fondly known rose from the ashes of poverty, from the ghettos of Trench town to become the greatest third world musician ever and the world champion of human freedom in the 70s, he even became his country’s richest citizen with 30% of his country’s entire wealth belonging to him, he is the only musician from a third world country that made the top five richest death celebrities by Forbes magazine in 2014.

With such hit songs as “stir it up” “one love” “iron lion Zion” and “survival” Marley became the most famous musical talent on the globe in the 70s with kids in Italy and London wearing dreadlocks and refusing to go to school when he arrived for musical concerts, he was inducted alongside friend and ally, Peter Tosh as the only reggae artists into the London music hall of fame and was credited to have brought reggae music to a global audience, thanks largely to the efforts of world renown musical entrepreneur and producer, Chris Blackwell who gave them (alongside Tosh and Bunny Wailer) superstar status.

Bob escaped an assassination attempt masterminded by Edward Seaga who later became Jamaican prime minister on the 3rd of December 1976 and proceeded on a three year self imposed exile from Jamaica, it was a politically motivated attempt, he returned back for the December 5th 1979 “Smile Jamaica” concert to bring back peace to Jamaica who was locked in a bloody civil war and Bob raised the hands of Jamaican prime minister then, Michael Manley and opposition leader, Edward Seaga who allegedly stirred the war.

Marley took ill in the spring of 1980 while on a USA concert, collapsing live on stage and later diagnosed with Melomania, the cancer of the lungs, earlier he had injured his toe while playing football, his second love in Kingston in 1976 and a toe specialist in London diagnosed cancer and advised the amputation of that leg, but Bob refused and only allowed the cutting off of that toe which was a grave error of judgement from Bob as the cancer spread and later formed a brain tumor. After taking treatment in the US and Germany, it just didn’t work as he lost the battle to cancer.

Before his death, Marley reportedly asked his mother “why Jah allow cancer to catch me mama, why, why, I didn’t offend nobody” she suddenly bursts into tears, moved by his mother’s tears for his sake on his sick bed, Bob said “mama don’t cry I’ll be fine” his wife, Rita also asked Bob “why do you want to leave me alone with the kids Bob, this wasn’t our agreement, we said we were going to raise the kids together, and Bob smiled and said “who said I was going to leave you alone, I’m only going to prepare a place for myself in the hills of Zion” he also reportedly told his 14 year old son, Ziggy, “money cannot by life”

Bob was baptized a day to his death on the 10th of May 1981 by arch bishop Abraham Abouana of the Ethiopian Orthodox church in Miami and rechristened Berhane Selassie, meaning “the light of the holy Trinity” he died at about 11:45am on the 11th of May 1981 at the Cedars of Lebanon, now university of Miami teaching hospital in Florida, USA at 36 and was buried where he was born in St Anne parish.

The United nations recognizes every 11th May as Marley day and gifted him an award of order of merit (OM)for his role in bringing peace back to Jamaica after a five year civil war, prime minister, Seaga also gave him a honorary award of his country’s highest citizen both awards were post humus and received by his son, Ziggy after his death in 1981, he was survived by his mother, Cedella Booker (also a musician like her father, Omeriah Malcolm), wife and 10 kids, including Damian Marley, a son he got from the miss Jamaica 1976 and miss world 1977, Cindy Breakspeare who many believe he sang the song “turn your light down low” and “could this be love” for Marley’s total album sell as at 1981 was approximately $180m.