“One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.”
Forty years ago to the day, reggae’s iconic Bob Marley died at the age of 36.
This afternoon Midday Joy with Unathi dedicated the lunchtime mix to the face of reggae music.
Robert Nesta Marley, popularly known as Bob Marley, was a Jamaican songwriter, and musician, considered one of the pioneers of reggae died on the 11th of May 1981.
On this day in 1981 ✨
Bob Marley dies at age 36 after a long battle with cancer.
Bob Marley😎🙏
Is This Love 🎶
Live#BobMarley #Reggaehttps://t.co/aSXsNQuevJ pic.twitter.com/vwkuK6fjE3— Song A Day / Philosophy Away 🙏 🎶 (@song_philosophy) May 11, 2021
The singer was admitted to hospital after cancerous growth on an old soccer injury on his big toe had metastasized, spreading to his lungs, liver and brain.
It got infected, and in 1977 doctors told him that he needed to have it amputated. Marley ignored the advice on the basis of his Rastafarian religion, figuring his faith will heal him. He continued to deny treatment even as melanoma developed in the toe and spread through his body, eventually killing him.
Did you know?
Bob Marley used to practice with his group The Wailers at a graveyard to get over the fear of performing live.
His music will live on as his legacy.
The singer’s hits included:
Also read: You Cannot Unhear This: Bob Marley and the Wailers on Midday Joy with Unathi