Posthumous Remembrance of Bob Marley at 80.
3 min read
Rastaman Robert Nesta Marley, a great poet, song writer, motivational speaker, human rights activist and reggae icon would have clocked 80 years on February 6, 2025 if he had not been killed by a strain of cancer known as acral lentiginous melanoma on Monday May 11, 1981. Bob who used his music to preach freedom for Blacks and world peace died at the age of 33 (1945–1981) as a result of “Acral lentiginous melanoma which “is a type of skin cancer which typically begins as a uniform brownish mark before becoming darker and wider with a blurred, irregular border.”
Marley who was regarded as a global citizen was reported to be stupendously wealthy but decided to live and identify with the poor despite his personal fortune and global influence. This unique lifestyle earned him a gold medal in the hearts of many who love reggae music across the world even till date.
Because of his strong advocacy for the global emancipation of Blackman, many people strongly believed that Marley was going to be nominated for Nobel Peace Prize during his time. Umuaka Times correspondents in Kingston gathered that Marley was perhaps another Chinua Achebe who the world strongly believed that he was robbed of Nobel Prize for Literature.
As the Nobel Foundation denied Marley her prestigious prize, the following institutions recognized Marley with the following prizes and awards.
1976: Rolling Stone Magazine’s “Band of the Year.”
June 1978: Awarded the Peace Medal of the Third World from the United Nations.
February 1981: Awarded the Jamaican Order of Merit, then the nation’s third-highest honour
March 1994: Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
1999: “Album of the Century” for Exodus by Time Magazine.
February 2001: A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
February 2001: Awarded Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
2004: Rolling Stone ranked him 11th on her list of the “100 Greatest Artists of All Time”.
Among the first inductees into the UK Music Hall of Fame “One Love” named song of the millennium by BBC Voted one of the greatest lyricists of all time by another BBC poll.
2006: A blue plaque at his first UK residence in Ridgmount Gardens in London, dedicated to him by the Nubian Jak Community Trust and supported by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
2010: Catch a Fire inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame (Reggae Album).
2022: Inducted into the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame.
Besides all the honours for Bob, his death remains a big challenge to many considering the circumstances. About 8 years ago, a twist emanated from the death of the global music icon. A 79-year-old CIA agent named Bill Oxley, on his sickbed made series of stunning and shocking confessions from the Mercy Hospital in Maine as death was seriously knocking on his door. The septuagenarian claimed that he killed more than 15 high profile personalities for the CIA starting from 1974 and ending in 1985. He claimed that Bob Marley was one of his victims.
A report Umuaka Times obtained last week aptly puts it thus: “Mr Oxley, who worked for the CIA for 29 years as a top-security operative, says he was often used as a hitman by the organization to kill individuals who might pose a threat to its goals, agency, as a sniper and storm trooper, Mr Oxley also has considerable experience with more unusual methods of torturing others such as: poisons, explosives, heart attacks and cancer.”
For now, Bob is gone and there is nobody to confirm if Bill Oxley was actually being honest or not. Be that as it may, happy posthumous birthday Bob Marley.
