Bob Marley, in full Robert Nesta Marley, (born February 6, 1945, Nine Miles, St. Ann, Jamaica—died May 11, 1981, Miami, Florida, U.S.), Jamaican singer-songwriter whose thoughtful ongoing distillation of early ska, rock steady, and reggae musical forms blossomed in the 1970s into an electrifying rock-influenced hybrid that made him an international superstar. Marley—whose parents were Norval Sinclair Marley, a white rural overseer, and the former Cedella Malcolm, the Black daughter of a local custos (respected backwoods squire)—would forever remain the unique product of parallel worlds. His poetic worldview was shaped by the countryside, his music by the tough West Kingston