This Day in History:
Bob Marley Dies May 11, 1981 The heart and soul of reggae
was only 36 years old when he
died in a Miami, FL, hospital. He had been diagnosed with
late-stage cancer less than
eight months prior after collapsing
during a jog in NYC's Central Park. Marley dropped out of school
in his mid-teens in Trench Town,
a rough ghetto in Kingston, Jamaica,
to make music with friends. Riding the creative musical wave
happening in their country, the trio
would perform together as Bob Marley and the Wailers. After Eric Clapton covered
the band's song "I Shot the Sheriff,"
the charismatic Marley became the focus. The popularity of his three albums released in
the late 1970s — 'Exodus,' 'Kaya' and 'Uprising' —
have continued to grow since his death.