In what year was Bob Marley born?

Bob Marley was born in 1945, on February 6, in Nine Mile, Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica. His birth came during the period when Jamaica was still a British colony, before the country achieved independence in 1962.

Marley was born Robert Nesta Marley to Cedella Booker, an Afro-Jamaican woman, and Norval Sinclair Marley, a Jamaican of English and Welsh ancestry. He spent part of his childhood in Nine Mile before moving to Kingston, where he became involved in music and helped form the group that developed into the Wailers.

The year 1945 is sometimes confused with 1946 because of inconsistent references and the long span of Marley’s international career. The documented date is February 6, 1945. He began recording professionally in the early 1960s and later became one of reggae’s defining global figures through songs such as “No Woman, No Cry,” “One Love,” and “Redemption Song.”

Marley died in Miami on May 11, 1981, at age 36, but his music and Rastafari-influenced cultural legacy continue to shape reggae worldwide.