Bob Marley Biography (1945–1981)

Singer, musician, songwriter. Born on February 6, 1945, in Jamaica. Bob Marley helped introduce reggae music to the world and remains one of its most beloved artists to this day. The son of a black teenage mother and much older, later absent white father, he spent his early years in the rural village known as Nine Miles in the parish of St. Ann.
One of his childhood friends in St. Ann was Neville "Bunny" O'Riley Livingston. Attending the same school, the two shared a love of music. Bunny inspired Bob to learn to play the guitar. Later Livingston's father and Marley's mother became involved, and they all lived together for a time in Kingston, according to Christopher John Farley's Before the Legend: The Rise of Bob Marley.
Arriving in Kingston in the late 1950s, Marley lived in Trench Town, one of the city's poorest neighborhoods. He struggled in poverty, but he found inspiration in the music around him. Marley liked such artists as Ray Charles, Elvis Presley, Fats Domino, and the Drifters.
Marley went to the United States where his mother was now living. However, before he left, he married Rita Anderson on February 10, 1966.
After eight months, Marley returned to Jamaica. He reunited with Livingston and McIntosh to form the Wailers. Around this time, Marley was exploring his spiritual side and developing a growing interest in the Rastafarian movement. Both religious and political, the Rastafarian movement started in Jamaica in 1930s and drew its beliefs from many sources, including Jamaican-born black nationalist Marcus Garvey, the Old Testament, and their African heritage and culture.