Despite being universally revered as the King of Reggae, Bob Marley never won a Best Reggae Album Grammy. In fact, he was never even nominated for the award during or after his lifetime.
Marley and The Wailers’ final posthumous studio album, Confrontation, was released in 1983, just two years before the Recording Academy introduced the Best Reggae Recording category in 1985. Since then, members of the original Wailers—Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer—have been nominated and won Grammy Awards for their tributes, live albums, covers and studio albums.
Tosh received two nominations, winning Best Reggae Recording for No Nuclear War at the 30th Annual Grammy Awards in 1988. His first nomination came for Captured Live at the 27th Annual Grammy Awards in 1985.
Bunny Wailer saw even greater success, earning five nominations and winning three times. His first nomination was for Liberation at the 32nd Annual Grammy Awards. He got back-to-back Grammy nomination for Time Will Tell: A Tribute to Bob Marley (33rd Annual Grammy Awards) and Gumption (34th Annual Grammy Awards). His two wins were for Crucial Roots Classics (37th Annual Grammy Awards) and Hall Of Fame: A Tribute to Bob Marley’s 50th Anniversary (39th Annual Grammy Awards in 1997).
Posthumous Bob Marley Releases Without Grammy Recognition
Since the Grammy Awards introduced the Best Reggae Album category in 1985, a total of 25 albums featuring Bob Marley have been released, yet none have been nominated or won a Grammy. These include eight live albums, such as Talkin’ Blues (1991), Live at the Roxy (2003), Live Forever: September 23, 1980 – Stanley Theatre, Pittsburgh, PA(2011), and a series of Live at the Rainbow recordings released in 2020. Several compilation albums have also been issued, including Rebel Music (1986), Natural Mystic: The Legend Lives On (1995), One Love: The Very Best of Bob Marley & The Wailers (2001), and Africa Unite: The Singles Collection (2005).
Additionally, seven remix albums—including Chant Down Babylon Remix Album (1999), Roots, Rock, Remixed (2007), B Is for Bob(2009), and Legend: Remixed (2013)—have been released, yet none received Grammy recognition. Marley’s legacy has also been honored through four box sets, including Songs of Freedom (1992) and The Complete Bob Marley & the Wailers 1967–1972 (1997), along with soundtrack albums such as Marley OST (2012) and Bob Marley: One Love OST(2024).
The Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album originally called Best Reggae Recording the named changed in 1992 is presented to a body of work containing at least 75% reggae recordings. The category includes roots reggae, Dancehall and Ska.
While Bob Marley never won a Grammy, his sons have dominated the Best Reggae Album category, winning multiple times and achieving significant commercial success with their Grammy winning albums.
The Grammys does not take sales or streams into consideration, however only 8 of the 41 Grammy-winning Best Reggae Albums have achieved Gold or Platinum status in the U.S.. Of the top 18 best-selling albums, half are by members of the Marley family.
According to Luminate, Damian Marley’s Welcome to Jamrock which won in 2006, has sold 1.2 million units and his Halfway Tree album which won in 2002, has sold 248,000 units. Stony Hill (won in 2018) with 167,000 units.
Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers won twice, with Conscious Party (1989) selling 1 million units and One Bright Day (1990) selling 500,000 units.
As a solo artist, Ziggy Marley won five Grammys, including Love Is My Religion (2007) with 352,000 units, In Concert (2014) with 147,000 units, Fly Rasta (2015) with 31,000 units, and Ziggy Marley (2017) with 25,000 units.
Stephen Marley’s Mind Control won in 2008, selling 336,000 units, while its acoustic version won again in 2010, selling 162,000 units. His Revelation Pt. 1 – The Root of Life (2012) sold 114,000 units.
The last three consecutive Best Reggae Album winners have direct Marley connections:
- 2023 – The Kalling by Kabaka Pyramid, executive produced by Damian Marley.
- 2024 – Colors Of Royal by Julian Marley and Antaeus.
- 2025 – Bob Marley: One Love – Music Inspired By The Film.
