Robert Nesta Marley OM (6 February 1945 - 11 May 1981) was a Jamaican singer, songwriter, and guitarist whose music and message resonated worldwide. Born in Nine Mile, Jamaica, Marley's career began in 1963 with the formation of the group Teenagers, alongside Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer, which later became the Wailers.
The Wailers released 11 more studio albums, and after signing to Island Records, changed their name to Bob Marley and the Wailers. Marley's conversion to Rastafari coincided with their engagement in rhythmic-based song construction in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Marley was a longtime member of the Rastafari movement, whose culture was a key element in the development of reggae. Marley supported the legalisation of cannabis or "ganja", which Rastafarians believe is an aid to meditation, during the time that he was a Rastafarian. In 1966, Marley converted to the Rastafari faith from Catholicism and began using cannabis. "When you smoke herb, herb reveal yourself to you. All the wickedness you do, the herb reveal itself to yourself, your conscience, show up yourself clear, because herb make you meditate," Marley said of his marijuana usage.
Marley was a Pan-Africanist and believed in the unity of African people worldwide. His beliefs were rooted in his Rastafari religious beliefs. Marley was substantially inspired by Marcus Garvey and had anti-imperialist and pan-Africanist themes in many of his songs, such as "Zimbabwe", "Exodus", "Survival", "Blackman Redemption" and "Redemption Song". The lattermost draws influence from a 1937 speech given by Marcus Garvey in Nova Scotia. Marley held that independence of African countries from European domination was a victory for all those in the African diaspora.
Let's delve into the lesser-known aspect of his life: his connection to the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and his eventual baptism.
Read also: The Story of Naira Marley
Early Life and Musical Beginnings
Born on February 6, 1945, in Nine Mile, Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica, Nesta Robert Marley was the son of Norval Sinclair Marley and Cedella Malcolm. At age 12, Marley left Nine Mile with his mother and moved to the Trenchtown section of Kingston. Marley's mother and Thadeus Livingston, Bunny Wailer's father, had a daughter together named Claudette Pearl, who was a younger sister to both Bob and Bunny. With Marley and Livingston living together in the same house in Trenchtown, their musical explorations deepened to include the new ska music and the latest R&B from United States radio stations whose broadcasts reached Jamaica.
In 1963, Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer, Peter Tosh, Junior Braithwaite, Beverley Kelso, and Cherry Smith were called the Teenagers. They later changed the name to the Wailing Rudeboys, then to the Wailing Wailers, at which point they were discovered by record producer Coxsone Dodd, and finally to the Wailers. Their single "Simmer Down" for the Coxsone label became a Jamaican No. 1 in February 1964 selling an estimated 70,000 copies.
In 1972, Bob Marley signed with CBS Records in London and embarked on a UK tour with soul singer Johnny Nash. Blackwell desired to create "more of a drifting, hypnotic-type feel than a reggae rhythm", and restructured Marley's mixes and arrangements. The Wailers' first album for Island, Catch a Fire, was released worldwide in April 1973, packaged like a rock record with a unique Zippo lighter lift-top.
Rastafarianism and Musical Success
Rastafari originated among the poor and oppressed Afro-Jamaican communities in 1930s Jamaica. Its Afrocentric ideology was largely a reaction against Jamaica’s then-dominated British colonial culture and the legalistic demands of many Protestant churches. By late 1966, Marley slowly but surely began to immerse himself in the Rastafarian view of “Jah,” the Bible, and history.
In February of that year, Marley had married Rita Anderson, a Christian who converted to Rastafarianism that April when Selassie visited Jamaica. Marley eventually followed suit, joining the Twelve Tribes of Israel-known, as Dean MacNeil notes, as “the most ‘Christian’ and Bible-based sect of Rastafari.” He recorded his first Rastafarian-influenced song, “Selassie Is the Chapel,” in June 1968, followed by another, “Jah Is Mighty,” in 1970.
Read also: The music of Bob Marley
In 1975, Marley had his international breakthrough with his first hit outside Jamaica with a live version of "No Woman, No Cry", from the Live! album. In 1978, Marley returned to Jamaica and performed at another political concert, the One Love Peace Concert, again in an effort to calm warring parties. Survival, a defiant and politically charged album, was released in 1979. Tracks such as "Zimbabwe", "Africa Unite", "Wake Up and Live" and "Survival" reflected Marley's support for the struggles of Africans. Uprising (1980) was Marley's final studio album and the last album that was released during his lifetime.
Bob Marley Talk About Ethiopian Orthodox
The Conversion: A Hidden Chapter
The reggae superstar and populariser of Rastafarianism became a Christian shortly before his death in 1981. In late 1979 Marley sought membership within the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, the state church of Ethiopia. Archbishop Abuna Yesehaq was convinced of Marley’s conversion and baptised him into the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, giving him the name Berhane Selassie on 4 November 1980.
The baptism of the reggae superstar and face of the Rastafarian movement into the Ethiopian Orthodox Church is a true story-but also, for the most part, an untold one. His official biographies acknowledge that it happened, but offer very little detail. The 2012 documentary Marley makes no mention of it whatsoever.
In the biography Catch a Fire, Timothy White notes that Marley had returned to Sloan-Kettering in New York after trips to Miami and Mexico. It was during that visit to New York, on November 4, 1980, that he was baptized. “Rita had Bob baptized in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.... Taking the name Berhane Selassie [“Light of the Trinity”], he had become a Christian Rasta.”
We learn a few more details in a 1988 biography by Stephen Davis: the exact location of the baptism was the Wellington Hotel in midtown Manhattan. Archbishop Abuna Yesehaq-a leader of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church sent to minister to Jamaicans-is the one who baptized Bob. “A tearful Rita” and their children were present too.
Read also: The Rise of Marlian Records
Marley’s funeral was a thoroughly Christian celebration-further confirmation of his departure from Rastafarianism (which generally doesn’t observe funeral rites at all) and reception into the Orthodox Church. Aside from the occasional nod to Rastafarianism, the event was deeply rooted in Christian song, readings, and prayer-all in a way that was respectful of the great themes of Marley’s life and work.
In So Much Things to Say: The Oral History of Bob Marley, Archbishop Abuna Yesehaq reflects: “Bob was really a good brother, a child of God, regardless of how people look at him. He had a desire to be baptized long ago, but there were people close to him who controlled him and who were aligned to a different aspect of Rastafari. But he came to church regularly. I remember once while I was conducting the Mass, I looked at Bob and tears were streaming down his face."
According to Judy Mowatt, Rita’s friend and a former back-up singer for the Wailers, Rita called her when Bob was dying and said he was “in such excruciating pain and he stretched out his hand and said, ‘Jesus take me.’”
Key Figures in Marley's Spiritual Journey
| Figure | Role |
|---|---|
| Cedella Booker | Bob Marley's mother, influenced his early exposure to Christianity. |
| Rita Marley | Bob Marley's wife, encouraged his baptism in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. |
| Haile Selassie | Emperor of Ethiopia, revered in Rastafarianism, but whose death led to Marley's spiritual questioning. |
| Archbishop Abuna Yesehaq | Baptized Bob Marley into the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. |
Final Days and Legacy
In July 1977, Marley was diagnosed with a type of skin cancer under the nail of his right big toe. Marley rejected his doctors' advice to have his toe amputated, which would have hindered his performing career, citing religious beliefs. After eight months of the alternative treatment failing to effectively treat his advancing cancer, Marley boarded a plane for his home in Jamaica. During the flight, his vital functions worsened.
He died there shortly afterwards on 11 May 1981, at the age of 36, due to the spread of cancer to his lungs and brain. Marley's final words to his son Ziggy were: "On your way up, take me up. His voice was an omnipresent cry in our electronic world. His sharp features, majestic looks, and prancing style a vivid etching on the landscape of our minds. Bob Marley was never seen. He was an experience which left an indelible imprint with each encounter. Such a man cannot be erased from the mind.
