Bob Marley Biography

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The Early Years

Robert Nesta Marley was born on 6 February 1945 to Captain Norval Sinclair Marley (a British soldier on duty in Jamaica) and Cedella Booker, a Jamaican teenage girl. Captain Marley returned to England soon after Bob was born, he provided financial support for his son but seldom saw him.

Bob Marley moved to the poverty-stricken Trenchtown district of Kingston in 1957. He had a hard time growing up in Trenchtown, partly because his fair skin made him stand out from the crowd. Marley did not allow this to weaken his spirit, instead it strengthened his resolve to stand up for himself. Bob Marley quit school at the age of 14 and took a job at a local welders shop. However, he soon left this job after sustaining a painful injury when a shard of metal hit him in the eye. Marley had gained much exposure to the world of music whilst living in Trenchtown and this injury has one factor which made Marley decide that he would earn his living through music. Through music, Marley managed to shun the life of crime and violence which many youths of Trenchtown find themselves drawn in to.

In 1960 Marley began visiting Joe Higgs at his "Third Street Yard". Joe Higgs was a local Rastafarian musician who ran workshops for local youths. It was at these sessions that Bob Marley met Peter Macintosh (Peter Tosh) and Neville Livingston (Bunny Wailer). Marley showed an obvious talent and aptitude for music and soon became very well known locally.

Next: Bob Marley's First Recordings

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