IT'S been four decades since Bob Marley's death, a period longer than the reggae icon's brief but potent life that skin cancer ended when he was 36.
Yet Marley lives on as a voice of the dispossessed, the palpable vibrancy, spirit of protest and moral zeal of his songs including "One Love," "Redemption Song" and "I Shot The Sheriff" enduring in a way few bodies of popular music have ever done.
His rich anthems of peace and struggle, hope and discontent, still reverberate globally and especially in his native Jamaica, a small nation whose rich culture its most famous son popularized on an international stage.
"It is said the brightest stars sometimes don't burn as long and, in many ways, Bob Marley was our brightest star; he accomplished a lot in a short period of time," said Judy Mowatt, an original member of the influential I-Threes trio whose vocals backed Marley.
"Looking back now, I believe in many ways, he was before his time," Mowatt told AFP.
"His words have been prophetic he was a man who believed everything he sung, it wasn't just lyrics and music."
- 'Money can't buy life' -
Marley was diagnosed with acral lentiginous melanoma in 1977, which was first discovered underneath a toenail when he suffered a foot injury playing football.
He opted against doctors' recommendations that he amputate his toe, a procedure that would have violated his staunch Rastafarian faith.
While in New York in 1980 to perform two shows at Madison Square Garden, Marley collapsed during a Central Park jog. He was rushed to the hospital, where doctors found the cancer had crept into his brain, lungs and liver.
Marley performed what would be his final show in Pittsburgh on September 23, 1980. Not long after, he cut his tour short and underwent months of ultimately unsuccessful alternative cancer treatment in Germany.
On his way home to Jamaica to receive one of his nation's highest awards, the Order of Merit, Marley's condition worsened. He landed in Miami to seek emergency treatment.
"Money can't buy life," he reportedly told his son Ziggy from his hospital bed before his death on May 11, 1981, forty years to the day on Tuesday.
- The Wailers, reunited -
Learning of Marley's death is a moment seared into Mowatt's consciousness.
"It was a Monday morning, sitting on the veranda like I am now, and I got the phone call that Bob passed," she said. "It was very painful. All the years we have worked together has come to a closure and it just hit me.
"Bob was gone forever."
Marley was given a state funeral in Jamaica on May 21, 1981, that combined elements of Ethiopian Orthodox and Rastafari tradition. He was eulogized by former Prime Minister Edward Seaga and buried in a chapel near his birthplace, with his guitar.
This year's 40th anniversary of Marley's death is particularly poignant, as 2021 marked the death of the last surviving member of the original Wailers, Bunny.
"This is the first year that we are memorializing Bob's transition anniversary from 1981 in the context of all three Wailers leaving, Peter (Tosh) having left in 1987, and Bunny surviving them both for 40 years and 33 years respectively, transitioning here in 2021," Maxine Stowe, Bunny Wailer's long-time manager, said.
The Wailers "are now reunited in another plane of existence," Stowe said.
The group in the 1960s helped transform reggae, with its heavy bass lines and drums, into a global phenomenon with untold impact.
The genre which emerged out of Jamaica's ska and rocksteady styles, also drawing from American jazz and blues has influenced countless artists and inspired many new music styles including reggaeton, dub and dancehall.
The style is often championed as a music of the oppressed, with lyrics addressing sociopolitical issues, imprisonment and inequality.
"His voice was an omnipresent cry in our electronic world, his sharp features, majestic locks and prancing style a vivid etching on the landscape of our minds," Seaga said during his eulogy.
"Most people do not command recollection. Bob Marley was never seen. He was an experience which left an indelible, mystical imprint with each encounter," Seaga continued.
"Such a man cannot be erased from the mind. He is part of the collective consciousness of the nation."
ETX Studio
Fri May 14 2021
Bob Marley's style is often championed as a music of the oppressed, with lyrics addressing sociopolitical issues, imprisonment and inequality. ETXStudiopic
Pelajar tahfiz perlu teroka bidang teknologi
Kira-kira 200,000 pelajar tahfiz di negara ini, perlu dipastikan untuk mempunyai kemampuan dan peluang menjadi tenaga penggerak kepada umat Islam Malaysia dalam meneroka bidang yang dahulu dilihat sebagai asing., tegas Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Perpaduan rakyat prasyarat ekonomi mampan
Tidak semua negara Islam mempunyai ruang dan kesempatan untuk terus aman dan damai, dan mempunyai peluang untuk menikmati ekonomi yang kukuh dan berkembang seperti Malaysia, tegas Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Beliau berkata, rakyat Malaysia perlu mempunyai tekad untuk memahami maksud dan keperluan perpaduan di kalangan mereka, serta kekuatan dalaman yang seterusnya dapat dijadikan tonggak untuk negara membuat langkah seterusnya.
Beliau berkata, rakyat Malaysia perlu mempunyai tekad untuk memahami maksud dan keperluan perpaduan di kalangan mereka, serta kekuatan dalaman yang seterusnya dapat dijadikan tonggak untuk negara membuat langkah seterusnya.
Tidak perlu tergesa-gesa tukar ke lesen B - JPJ
Pemegang Lesen Memandu Malaysia (LMM) Kelas B2 dan B1 tidak perlu tergesa-gesa mendaftar Program Khas Peralihan LLM Kelas B2/B1 Kepada LMM Kelas B kerana tiada had masa ditetapkan untuk permohonan.
KPWKM teruskan lapan inisiatif bantu warga emas
Kementerian Pembangunan Wanita, Keluarga dan Masyarakat (KPWKM) akan terus menggerakkan lapan inisiatif utama dalam memenuhi keperluan jagaan dan sistem sokongan terhadap warga emas.
Warga emas maut ditikam anak kandung yang berhalusinasi
Seorang pesara guru maut ditikam anak kandungnya sendiri di sebuah rumah dekat Kampung Senaling, di sini, petang Sabtu.
Menurut Ketua Polis Daerah Kuala Pilah, Superintendan Amran Mohd Ghani, siasatan awal mendapati warga emas berusia 65 tahun itu cuba memujuk anak lelakinya yang juga pemegang kad orang kurang upaya (OKU) mental yang dikatakan mahu membunuh diri.
Menurut Ketua Polis Daerah Kuala Pilah, Superintendan Amran Mohd Ghani, siasatan awal mendapati warga emas berusia 65 tahun itu cuba memujuk anak lelakinya yang juga pemegang kad orang kurang upaya (OKU) mental yang dikatakan mahu membunuh diri.
Berita tempatan pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Berikut adalah berita yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang Sabtu, 5 Oktober 2024.
Berita antarabangsa pilihan sepanjang hari ini
Antara pelbagai berita luar negara yang disiarkan di Astro AWANI, berikut adalah yang paling menjadi tumpuan sepanjang hari ini.
Hezbollah lancar serangan peluru berpandu ke atas kompleks industri ketenteraan di utara Israel
Pergerakan Hezbollah di Lubnan berkata mereka telah melancarkan serangan peluru berpandu ke atas kemudahan ATA Defence Industries.
Tiada kaitan dengan pelantikan CEO MDEC, Anuar Fariz bukan adik saya - Fahmi
Menteri Komunikasi Fahmi Fadzil menyangkal dakwaan Ketua Pegawai Eksekutif (CEO) baharu Perbadanan Ekonomi Digital Malaysia (MDEC) Anuar Fariz Fadzil merupakan adiknya.
Israel lakukan persiapan untuk serang Iran - Laporan
Tentera Israel sedang bersiap untuk "tindakan balas besar-besaran dan ekstrem" terhadap Iran.
Cucu Bob Marley penyanyi reggae Jo Mersa meninggal dunia
Jo Mersa ditemui tidak sedarkan diri di dalam kereta sebelum disahkan meninggal dunia.
KLWBC2020: Filem sebagai teks perlawanan
Nasir Jani mengangkat KSJ sebagai naratif perlawanan menentang lanun cetak rompak serta naratif sindiran kepada pihak berkuasa.