City Council Honors Reggae Legend With 'Bob Marley Day'
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The City Council declared Tuesday as "Bob Marley Day" in Los Angeles to honor the late iconic Jamaican reggae singer-songwriter in connection with the DVD release of the documentary "Marley."
Two of Marley's children, Ziggy and Karen, accepted a proclamation from Councilman Tom LaBonge announcing Bob Marley Day in Los Angeles.
"On behalf of my family and my father, I'd like to thank the council and the city of Los Angeles for this great honor. We appreciate it. We are root in Los Angeles now, so we're part of the city now," said Ziggy.
"Some folks came together and said, 'Look, it's Bob Marley, his legacy, his music, it's all part of entertainment," LaBonge told KNX 1070 NEWSRADIO.
Born Feb. 6, 1945, in the rural community of Nine Miles in the mountainous terrain of the Jamaican parish of St. Ann, Marley went on to become the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae bands The Wailers and Bob Marley & and The Wailers.
Marley's best-known hits include "I Shot the Sheriff";"No Woman, No Cry"; "Could You Be Loved"; "Stir It Up";"Jamming"; "Redemption Song";"One Love" and together with The Wailers, "Three Little Birds" and the posthumous releases "Buffalo Soldier" and "Iron Lion Zion."
Best known for popularizing the Rastafari movement — a religion that believes the last emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie, was the Messiah — Marley reportedly experienced a conversion to Christianity on his death bed.
The compilation album "Legend," released three years after he died from cancer 1981 at the age of 36, has been honored as the bestselling reggae album of all time by the Recording Industry Association of America.
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