BOB MARLEY

Bob Marley was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994; in December 1999, his 1977 album "Exodus" was named Album of the Century by Time Magazine and his song "One Love" was designated Song of the Millennium by the BBC. Since its release in 1984, Marley's "Legend" compilation has annually sold over 250,000 copies according to Nielsen Sound Scan, and it is only the 17th album to exceed sales of 10 million copies since SoundScan began its tabulations in 1991.

1945 Born in Nine Mile, Jamaica to white Jamaican father Norval Sinclair Marley and black mother, Cedella Booker. 1955 Norval dies when Marley is 10. Marley acknowledges his mixed ethnic roots but identifies himself as a black African. 1960s Becomes a Rastafarian.

1963 Forms ska and rock steady group the Teenagers with Bunny Wailer, Peter Tosh, and three others. Marley, Wailer and Tosh went on to become the Wailers. 1966 Marries Rita Anderson. 1967 First daughter, Cedella, is born. Marley had 11 children in all.

1972 While on tour in London, the Wailers are dropped by their label, CBS. Marley visits Island Records who promptly sign the band. 1973 The Wailers' first major album, Catch A Fire, is released worldwide. .

1974 Marley's profile is raised by Eric Clapton's cover of "I Shot the Sheriff". Shortly after, the Wailers break up. He continues to perform as "Bob Marley and the Wailers", with the I-Threes, three backing singers, among them his wife, Rita. 1975 "No Woman, No Cry", his first hit outside Jamaica, is released.

1976 Marley and Rita are wounded at their home on 56 Hope Road in a politically motivated shooting. They exile themselves to London for several years. Marley records Exodus and Kaya. 1977 Diagnosed with acral lentiginous melanoma. He keeps recording and performing until 1980. 1981 Dies in hospital in Miami, Florida.