He ’s been called many things : a reggae ambassador , a Third World seer , and one of the world’srichest stagnant celebrities . Here are some lesser - lie with facts about this Jamaican whiz .
1. He Once Was a Lab Assistant at DuPont
During a skimpy former period in Jamaica , Bob Marley decided to move to America and earn some money . His motherhad move to Wilmington , Delaware , and send her Logos a planer just the ticket . During an eight - month period in 1966 , he worked on the Chrysler assembly line and also as a research laboratory help at DuPont . But his nerve was n’t in either job and when his visa ran out , he move back to Jamaica to go forward with music . One legacy of that brief time is that Wilmington hold in aPeople ’s Festivalevery yr in Marley ’s accolade . It ’s organized by a world named Ibis Pitts who befriended Marley during the future reggae star ’s time there .
2. The Wailers Had a Complicated Family Connection
Marley was born in 1945 to Cedella Booker , a 19 - year - former bootleg woman and Norval Marley , a 60 - year - honest-to-goodness white Englishman , in the rural parish of St. Ann , Jamaica . Bob ’s mixed backwash inheritance was a source of discomfort , and people in his community disparaged him . " Them call me half - caste , or whatever . Me do n’t dunk on the disgraceful man ’s side nor the clean military man ’s side . Me magnetic dip on God ’s side , the one who produce me and cause me to descend from black and white-hot , who give me this gift , ” hesaid in 1975 .
Norval Marley seldom saw his boy and married woman and , after Norval ’s death , Bob and his mother moved to Trench Town , an impoverished area in the Jamaican capital Kingston . There , Cedella lived with Thaddeus Livingston and his son Bunny , who as Bunny Wailer , became a founding member of the group that subsequently became have intercourse as the Wailers ( and finally Bob Marley and the Wailers ) . Cedella and Thaddeus also had a daughter together , nominate Claudette .
3. The Zimbabwe Concert Truly “Set the Captives Free”
One very memorable public presentation for Marley and the Wailers took place during solemnization for Zimbabwe ’s independency in 1980 , which get along after a bitter civic warfare against an apartheid government . Marley was in person invite to do at the ceremonies because his Song had been an breathing in to the irregular forces . But then a riot broke out . " After the third tune , there was total confusion , masses running from everywhere … There was tear flatulency over the walls of the stadium,“remembered Tommy Cowan , who was MC at the concert . " We recognize that when he play ' I film the Sheriff , ' — there was prisoner of war camp a few chains aside , and … 7,000 of them broke jail intend on come into the stadium , so they project tear gas at them … The guys break down the gate , they derive in and sat down . They got a bear standing ovation because these were the guys who [ had ] in reality fought [ for exemption ] . "
4. The “Is This Love” Video Features a Very Young Naomi Campbell
This video recording was shot at the Keskidee Community Centre , a black art center in London in 1978 . Marleychose the siteand the video shows him singe and playing with kids recruited from various stagecoach school , including a young Naomi Campbell , the future supermodel . " I was just seven , and did n’t know what it would involve . I did n’t realise Bob Marley would be stand right next to me , tuck me under a blanket . He was the most handsome man , with beautiful ivory social organisation ; mellow , too , and soft - spoken , with a strong Jamaican accent mark , the kind I already fuck from home plate , " she said in an article inThe Guardian .
5. He Died a Christian
Marley was synonymous with theRastafarian religion , which originated in Jamaica . Among its impression : The former emperor moth of Ethiopia , Haile Selassie , is part of the Trinity ; ganja ( marijuana ) is a consecrated herbaceous plant that can bring one closer to Jah ( God ) ; and the comb and scissors are tools of Babylon ( corrupt westerly guild ) , which gave cost increase to the dreadlocks style — co - opt by many non - Rastas .
While Marley smartly promoted theRastafaith in many call , there is grounds that he changed beliefs before he choke . Haile Selassie wasdistressedto study that people were worshipping him as a graven image and sent a congressman from the Ethiopian Orthodox Church to Jamaica to try and convert the Rasta faithful to Christianity . A year before his last from Cancer the Crab , the archbishop of the local Ethiopian Orthodox Church , Abuna Yesehaq , baptise Marley andgave him the nameBerhane Selassie ( Light of the Trinity ) . Yesehaq presided over his state funeral in Jamaica where Marley was forget witha guitar , a Bible and a stem of ganjain his casket .
