Bob Marley performed at Zimbabwe’s independence celebrations in 1980.
The concert took place in Harare on 17 April 1980, marking Zimbabwe’s formal independence from British colonial rule. Marley and the Wailers were invited because his music, especially “Zimbabwe,” had become closely connected with African liberation and the country’s political struggle.
The performance carried enormous symbolic importance, but it was also difficult. Accounts describe crowd-control problems and tear gas during the first night, after which the band returned for another performance. The event nevertheless remains one of Marley’s most historically significant concerts.
Zimbabwe became independent after a prolonged liberation war and negotiations that produced the Lancaster House Agreement. Marley’s appearance connected Jamaican reggae with an African national celebration in a particularly direct way.