Happy Heavenly Birthday Bob!

Marley's image has evolved as an emblem of peace, unity and reggae. His songs have been a go-to for popBob Marley would have been 77 on February 6th. However, his life was tragically cut short at 36. Few people can claim to have such a perpetual legacy as the reggae icon.ular music since the 1970s. Marley has the second-highest social media followership of any posthumous celebrity.

Marley has always been famous for not only his love of music but also his love of cannabis. The most constant image of the star in modern-day pop culture is with a spliff in hand, smoke billowing, and his face emblazoned on all kinds of merchandise, including T-shirts, posters, ashtrays and rolling papers.

But his advocacy of weed was more serious than the paraphernalia would suggest. For Rastafarians, smoking weed is a religious ritual believed to have spiritual and medicinal properties. He was known to smoke anything up to around 20 joints a day.

"Herb is a plant. Herb is good for everything."- Bob Marley. 

The Marley estate has not shied away from capitalising on Bob's affiliation with the herb. In 2016 they launched a cannabis brand, "Marley Natural Fine Cannabis", to capitalise on the medical marijuana market. Most recently, in 2022, Bob's son Rohan Marley launched "Lion Order", a cannabis and CBD lifestyle brand that sells cannabis products along with clothing and accessories.

In 1963, Marley and two friends started a ska band called "The Wailers". The young men spent much time listening to rhythm and blues on American radio stations. They used the word "wailers" to reference their life experience in the highly disadvantaged area of Trenchtown as "ghetto sufferers, born wailing".

Marley fondly saw the UK as a "second home" after launching his career in London. He used the capital as a base to visit the UK's growing Rastafarian community, spreading the word through spontaneous gigs.

In 1973, Island Records asked Marley to write an album. The result was "Catch A Fire", the band's first big UK hit, paving the way for international success. The Wailers returned to the UK throughout the 1970s before settling in Chelsea in 1977 following the assassination attempt against Marley in Jamaica while they recorded Exodus.

In July 1977, doctors discovered a malignant melanoma in Marley's toe, which was found because of a football injury. The doctors recommended the toe be amputated, but Marley refused on religious grounds.

 By 1980, cancer had spread throughout his body. Marley attempted to go to Jamaica to end his days. Sadly, Marley never made the entire journey from Germany to Jamaica and died en route in Miami on May 11, 1981. Marley was taken home and buried in his homeland in Jamaica with a football, his Gibson Les Paul Guitar, and a weed bud.

He may have been taken too soon, but his memory lives on in music and weed culture.