Bob Marley Day declared in Los Angeles

By: Phyllis Pollack

The Los Angeles City Council declared Tuesday as ‘Bob Marley Day’ at a ceremony held in downtown Los Angleles at City Hall.

The proclamation honouring the iconic reggae singer was accepted by his daughter Karen Marley, and his oldest son, five-time Grammy Award winner Ziggy Marley.
Born as Robert Nesta (Bob) Marley in 1945, the singer, songwriter, guitarist and activist’s music catapulted awareness of reggae music to an international audience. His single-handed influence on music can not be underestimated.
Many artists have covered his songs, most famously, Eric Clapton’s 1974 remake of Bob Marley and the Wailers’ ‘I Shot the Sheriff’. It was later covered by rap artist Warren G.
The late Joe Strummer of The Clash paired up with the late Johnny Cash for a rendition of ‘Redemption Song’.
An endless list of artist of other genres have been influenced by Marley’s music, including No Doubt and most recently Snoop Dogg, who recently changed his name to Snoop Lion. A documentary film about Snoop Dogg’s conversion to the Rastafarian religion and his admiration for Bob Marley will be screened at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 7.
A Rastafarian, Marley also helped popularise the word ‘ganja’, as he defended his love of marijuana in songs like ‘Ganja Gun’ and ‘Legalize It’.
Marley was diagnosed with skin cancer in one of his toes in 1977, and died in 1981 of melanoma. He was given a state funeral, making him the first recording artist to have a state funeral there.
The documentary film ‘Marley’, directed by Kevin McDonald, was be released earlier this week.
– www.examiner.com

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