Bob Marleeee

BORN to a middle-aged white father and a teenage black mother, Robert Nesta Marley transcended the humility of his poor rural roots in Trenchtown, Jamaica, to become a platinum-selling musician and reggae's biggest star. In the process, he also become a semi-religious icon whose work in promoting peace, justice, and brotherhood nearly outweighed the brilliance of his music. Marley began singing professionally at sixteen with two friends, Bunny Livingston and Peter McIntosh (later known as …

…don't have to suffer to be aware of suffering," he said to his biographer, Stephen Davis. "So is not anger [I have], but truth, and truth have to bust out of man like a river." In separate incidents, both Wailer drummer Carlton Barrett and Peter Tosh were murdered in Jamaica. Rita Marley continues to run the family's Tuff Gong record label in Jamaica, and Bob's son Ziggy now records with his band the Melody Makers.