Hey guys, Happy Bob Marley Day!!! Bob Marley is a legend at home and abroad and every year people celebrate his life and his music around the world. If you’re a facebooker then you’ve been recently been mobbed by all your friends tagging you in the note "25 random things about me" and so today I thought I’d tag Bob!

So here’s the story of the man, the legend, summarized for yah in 25 cool facts!

1. Bob Marley’s father was white.
2. One of his first jobs was in a welding shop.
3. His first record was titled "Judge Not" in 1962
4. Neville "Bunny" O’Riley and Peter Tosh along with Bob were the original members of "the Teenagers" which later became "The Wailing Rudeboys" then "The Wailing Wailers" to finally just "The Wailers"
5. The Wailing Wailers’ first single was "Simmer Down" in late 1963, simmer down is still popular today!
6. Bob was actually to migrate to Delaware in the US with his mother but then he met Rita (aaaaaawww)
7. Bob’s rastafarianism started in 1966 and solidified in 1967, his music changed to reflect his new beliefs (no more rudebwoy tunes)
8. The Wailers were the first Jamaican reggae band to make a full album (Catch a Fire) and tour Europe and the US (1973)
9. Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer left the Wailers and were replaced by the I-Threes (Bob’s wife Rita, Marcia Griffiths and Judy Mowatt) (1975)
10. Marley was shot in his home in late 1976 by gunmen, fueled by election violence. He was to hold a free concert on December 5th and contemplated not performing after his wounding.
11. He decided to perform briefly in the defiance of gunmen and fled the country right after for London where he recorded "Exodus"
12. Bob Marley received the UN’s "Medal of Peace" honor in New York, 1978
13. He visited Africa for the first time that same year.
14. Bob Marley and The Wailers played at Zimbabwe’s independence celebrations April 1980, one of the greatest honours ever bestowed upon them.
15. In May 1980, "Uprising" the band’s tenth album was released to immediate success. They toured sold out crowds in Europe including an audience in Milan with over 100,000 people, their biggest audience ever.



16. Plans were made to tour with Stevie Wonder in America that winter, however Bob’s toe injury worsened and he collapsed while jogging in NY’s Central Park.
17. In July 1977, Marley was found to have acral lentiginous melanoma , a form of malignant melanoma, in a football wound – according to widely held urban legend, inflicted by broadcaster and pundit Danny Baker – on his right big toe. Marley refused amputation, because of the Rastafari belief that the body must be "whole."
18. His cancer spread through his entire body. He fought it for eight months taking treatment at the clinic of Dr. Joseph Issels in Bavaria (Germany), whose treatment went with Marley’s beliefs (partly based on avoidance of certain foods, drinks and other substance)
19. Issels’ treatment was controversial and non-toxic and, for a time anyway, Bob’s condition seemed to stabilise. Eventually, however, the battle proved too much.
20. At the start of May Bob Marley left Germany for his Jamaican home, a journey he did not complete. He died in a Miami hospital on Monday May 11, 1981.
21. In April 1981, Marley was awarded Jamaica’s Order Of Merit, the nation’s third highest honour, in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the country’s culture.
22. On Thursday May 21, 1981, the Hon. Robert Nesta Marley O.M. was given an official funeral by the people of Jamaica. Following the service – attended by both the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition – Marley’s body was taken to his birthplace at Nine Mile, on the north of the island, where it now rests in a mausoleum.
23. Marley played his final concert at the Stanley Theater in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on September 23, 1980. The live version of "Redemption Song" on Songs of Freedom was recorded at this show.
24. His final words to his son Ziggy were "Money can’t buy life."
25. Bob Marley has 11 kids and 2 adopted (step) children. He enjoyed football (soccer) and fish with ground provisions and other "ital" dishes.

There you go! Facts were taken from here and here . Have a blessed day and later we’ll be jammin’

Peace and Love,

Irie Diva

P.S. When there’s a birthday…gifts are a must!!! I have t-shirts from Notchilous and Mosiah …both of which symbolise Bob Marley and the Rastafarian culture which he helped to globalise. All you have to do is wish Bob a happy birthday in the comments and state any one fact about the brand tee you’d like to win!!! But don’t just say "Happy Birthday Bob" be creative and I’ll select random winners!

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