18 Things Most People Don't Know About Bob Marley

Bob Marley's genius was discovered when he was still quite young. Desmond Dekker, who had worked with Marley when they were apprentice welders, was an aspiring musician when he succeeded in an audition with Beverley's Records. While he was recording his music, he remembered Marley's talent and insisted that he come and record a song. 

At the tender age of 16, Marley wrote and recorded “Judge Not” in 1962. The song demonstrated Marley’s point of view about being poor and biracial. People were struck by the talent of this young musician, who was grateful to Dekker for the opportunity. Dekker is credited with being one of the people who helped launch Bob Marley's amazing career. Marley "retained gratitude, respect and admiration for Dekker for the rest of his life." 

Coxsone Dodd, one of the biggest producers in Jamaican music history, helped Marley and The Wailers get started with his own recording studio, Studio One. They enjoyed a lot of early success, but ended up parting ways because The Wailers couldn't live off the meager pay. Apparently, Dodd took most of the money made from The Wailers’ music. Bunny Livingston, Peter Tosh, and Marley each got three pounds a week despite the booming sales of their early work. 

Only Jamaica really took notice of Marley and The Wailers during the early stages of their careers. The world would finally be awed by the genius of Marley after he signed on with another recording studio called Island Records in 1972. 

In 1966, after Marley split ways from Dodd, he decided to team up with Livingston and Tosh to start their own record label, Wail ’n Soul ‘m. They made a single called “Bend Down Low” to commemorate the transition, which went to fill the number one spot on the Jamaican charts after its release. 

Yet despite the popularity of the songs they produced, their music didn’t get much air play on Jamaican radio because they lacked the connections to the industry. Marley tried to keep Wail 'n Soul 'm afloat, but after the stamping machine that created the actual records broke down in 1967, they decided to close shop. Marley is quoted, saying, "We fight hard, man (to make Wail 'n Soul 'm a success).But when Christmas came and we go to collect money, the man say the (record) stamper mosh (was destroyed) and alla that." 

Lee "Scratch" Perry, also a follower of Rastafari, was the legendary producer and founder of Island Records. Marley admired Perry’s style and connection to the spiritual world. Before Marley became a huge hit, he asked Perry to work with him for four years. Perry recalled:

"He’d tried everything. He’d tried working with Coxsone, he’d tried Beverley’s Records and Leslie Kong. Many record producers in Jamaica. Nothing was happening for him. He wasn’t doing reggae then. He was working with a producer who wanted him to be like Otis Redding; he wasn’t a bad man but was holding Bob back. I wasn’t really interested in working with another singer, but he’d heard that people loved me in England and in America and maybe he wanted to share a bit of that. He wanted to be loved and respected like me, so it worked."

It was Perry who encouraged Marley to ditch ska for the message of Rastafari. “Ska music was to drink beer and dance. It wasn’t spiritual music,” Perry recalled. Marley and The Wailers finally broke into the music industry beyond Jamaica after signing on with Island Records to create the hit album, Catch a Fire. 

Englishman Norval Sinclair Marley worked as a plantation supervisor in St. Ann's Parish, Jamaica. He met Cedella Malcolm when she was 18 - he was pushing 60. He had become good friends with Malcolms’s father and had taken a liking to her. When Malcolm discovered she was pregnant, they decided to get married. Shortly thereafter, Norval Marley and Malcolm separated, so Bob Marley grew up estranged from his father. Norval Marley died in Jamaica in 1955, when Bob Marley was 10. 

Marley met his future wife, Rita Marley, in the mid ‘60s as he was performing with The Wailers. Rita and some friends auditioned to be a part of the Soulette. After she landed the gig, Rita found herself slowly falling in love with the shy Bob Marley, who struggled with speaking to her at first. Marley even sent letters to Rita through Bunny Livingston, despite seeing each other in the studio all the time.

The pair would eventually marry as Marley headed to Delaware in 1966, with Rita staying behind. While in the states, Marley hoped to start the Wail’N Soul’M record label while he lived with his mother. He and Rita were married in the Anderson family home when Bob was 21 and Rita was 19. Bob didn’t tell his mother he was married to Rita until much later. 

They would have three children together. Marley also adopted Rita’s daughter, Sharon, from another marriage. Throughout the years, Marley would have many relationships and children, but Rita faithfully stood by his side.