Bob Marley

Robert Nesta Marley, OM, (February 6, 1945 – May 11, 1981) better known as Bob Marley, was a Jamaican singer, guitarist, songwriter and activist. He is the most widely known reggae musician of all time, famous for popularising the genre outside of Jamaica. Much of his work deals with the struggles of the impoverished and/or powerless. Bob Marley is also renowned for the way in which he spread faith through his music.

Battle with cancer

Diagnosis

In July 1977, Marley was found to have a wound on his right big toe, which he thought was from a football injury. The wound would not completely heal, and his toenail later fell off during a soccer game. It was then that the correct diagnosis was made. Marley actually had a form of skin cancer, malignant melanoma, which grew under his toenail.

Related Topics:
1977 - Malignant melanoma

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Marley was advised to get his toe amputated, but he refused because of his Rastafarian beliefs that the body must be whole, that to have an amputation would be a sin, that his faith would ensure him living forever regardless of the cancer and because he saw doctors as samfai, confidence men who cheat the gullible by pretending to have the power of witchcraft. He also was concerned about the impact the operation would have on his dancing; amputation would profoundly affect his career at a time when greater success was close at hand. Still, Marley based this refusal on his Rastafarian beliefs, saying, "Rasta no abide amputation. I don't allow a mon ta be dismantled." (Catch a Fire, Timothy White) He did have surgery to try to excise the cancer cells. The cancer was kept secret from the wider public.

Related Topics:
Amputated - Doctor - Confidence men - Timothy White

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Collapse and treatment

The cancer spread to his brain, his lungs and his stomach. During a tour in the summer of 1980, while trying to break into the US market, he collapsed jogging in NYC's Central Park. This was after a series of shows in England and at Madison Square Garden. The illness made him unable to continue with the large tour that was planned. Marley sought help, and decided to go to Munich in order to receive treatment from controversial cancer specialist Josef Issels for several months, but it was to no avail.

Related Topics:
Cancer - Brain - Lung - Stomach - 1980 - US - NYC's - England - Madison Square Garden - Munich - Josef Issels

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Death

Months before his death he was baptised into the Coptic Orthodox Church and took the name Berhane Selassie (meaning the Light of the Holy Trinity in Coptic). Then a month before his death, he was awarded the Jamaican Order of Merit. He wanted to spend his final days in Jamaica but he became too ill on the flight home from Germany and had to land in Miami. He passed away at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Miami, Florida on May 11, 1981. His funeral in Jamaica was a dignified affair with combined elements of Ethiopian Orthodoxy and Rastafari. He is buried in a crypt at Nine Miles, near his birthplace, with his Gibson guitar, a bud of marijuana and a Bible.

Related Topics:
Coptic Orthodox Church - Coptic - Jamaican Order of Merit - Germany - Cedars of Lebanon Hospital - Miami, Florida - May 11 - 1981 - Gibson - Guitar - Marijuana - Bible

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