A prodigy, in its most definitive form, is someone who has mastered the highest level of artistry, excelling in every aspect of their craft. For many, he was it. “Bob Marley was a champion liberator,” Carlos Santana once said. “His songs liberate us from our own personal demons, and you thank God that you have ears and a heart to take it in.”
More than just a reggae pariah, Marley was an important counterculture figure of the 1970s, whose musicianship brought attention to a previously unknown religion while fighting to establish a global movement for social justice, cultural identity, and the unification of the oppressed. ‘Redemption Song’ alone impacted the Black civil rights movement, becoming an anthem of empowerment and resilience, echoing the struggles for freedom and justice.
During his lifetime, Marley impacted not just Jamaican contemporaries like Dennis Brown and Gregory Isaac but the broader musical landscape as a whole, infiltrating the approach taken by luminaries like Eric Clapton, Stevie Wonder, The Police, Elvis Costello, and many more. Clapton, in particular, viewed him as a muse, an untouchable figure who was “a wonderful songwriter and a great rhythm guitarist”.
Although Marley once explained he would “never be a politician or even think political,” in his view, “everything is political”. Now more than ever, that adage rings true, and the music industry is and has always been guided by those whose voices echo the loudest, both good and bad. But the good, like Marley, are the ones who inspire millions to incite positive change, in turn challenging prejudice and the established order.
When he passed away, the music world vowed to honour his legacy forever, brushed by the ghost of someone who truly believed and embodied the ideology that to influence change, you have to be the change. Just as Rastafarianism preached personal and collective liberation, Marley showed that love and freedom were the nucleus of a more accepting and equitable institution.
Marley’s funeral was held on May 21st, 1981, and was marked by music, prayer, and Rastafarian prophecy. Placed in a beautiful bronze coffin, the maestro was buried with three things deemed closest to his heart and soul: his red Gibson Les Paul guitar, a Bible opened at Psalm 23, and a stalk of ganja placed there by his widow, Rita.
When his body arrived for the monumental commemorative celebration, attendees made sure it would be just that: a celebration. During his lifetime, Marley practised grace, his central belief hanging onto the idea that to be alive is to be privileged. Even in death, his life was spotlighted for its eternal endurance, his death merely a marker of the shallowness of mortality.
