What type of cancer caused Bob Marley’s death?

Bob Marley died from acral lentiginous melanoma.

Doctors diagnosed the melanoma in 1977 after finding a dark spot beneath the nail of his right big toe. This subtype of skin cancer develops on the palms, soles or under the nails, rather than primarily on sun-exposed skin. Marley initially believed the injury was related to a football injury.

He refused amputation of the toe because of his Rastafari beliefs and instead underwent less extensive surgery. The cancer later spread, and he continued touring and recording while his health deteriorated.

Marley collapsed during a flight in 1980 and died in Miami on 11 May 1981. Popular retellings sometimes call the illness simply “skin cancer,” but acral lentiginous melanoma is the specific diagnosis cited in biographical sources.