It has been 42 years since the death of reggae rockstar Bob Marley. His message of One Love has become increasingly important as wars and rumors of wars depopulate the world. 50 years after his first international release Catch A Fire on Island Records, Legend: The Best Of Bob Marley and The Wailers is still No. 1 on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart for a record 173 weeks.
The Marley Estate is racking up more than $20 million per year according to Forbes but its influence and economic impact is potentially in the billions.
From major football leagues, to the war in Ukraine, Marley’s brand has been the inspiration for many in every corner of the world as his music continues to grow in value. Closer to home, Bob has had a big influence on Billionaire hitmaker Rihanna, the richest woman in music who has taken over fashion with her Fenty Beauty line of products.
Rollingstone Magazine reported that in 2008, the Marley family sued clothing makers A.V.E.L.A. for and won $2 million in damages after the company created Marley shirts that featured the Legend singer’s image and sold them at Target and Walmart.
Chris Blackwell, founder of Bob’s label Island Records who released his memoirs last year, is the man mostly responsible for the longterm success of the Marley brand.
Of his experience and direction with Marley, Blackwell has said:
He trusted my instincts, which were that he should go after being a rock star, rather than a star on black American radio. His music was rough and raw and exciting, but all black American music at the time, other than James Brown, was very slick and smooth. Bob trusted me on that, he was as keen as I was.
His son Rohan Marley recalls a time just after Bob’s death when the Marley’s intellectual property which is the bedrock of the estate was up for grabs and it was Blackwell again who stepped up to prevent the estate from falling into the hands on music barrons, among them Micheal Jackson who was buying up all the musical reals estate.
Rohan shared on an episode of the I am Athlete podcast, the gory details the Marley family had to endure to secure a successful legacy for their father.
“Its not as easy as you think, when we were children, when my father passed away he didn’t have a will, so the government in Jamaica wanted to sell all his rights, so it was my sister Cedella and Mama Rita and she was the one to fight for it…we had no money, everything was frozen, my dad wasn’t making any money..All we had was our father’s rights, his likeness and his music and we did not sell that”. He reasoned.
“At no time we will sell that..People offered us 20 million dollars.” As he dismissed the thought passionately.
Even Michael Jackson had the opportunity to help the family out of their struggles but instead Michael offered to buy out all the rights to Bob Marley’s Catalogue.
“We went to Michael( Jackson), and say ‘hey Micheal, could you help us?’ We need some money, we don’t have no money and they trying to take ours, Michael say ‘no, I’ll buy it’. MCA (also) wanted to buy it,” he said.
It’s not surprising that the Thriller artist wanted to do business rather than help out the Marley family with a loan to straighten their business. He was notorious for buying music rights in the 1980s from even persons he considered his friends.
After becoming friends with Paul McCartney, Jackson paid 47 million dollars to purchase ATV, from Australian billionaire Robert Holmes a Court. ATV had the rights to 251 Beatles songs, including “Hey Jude,” “Yesterday” and “Let It Be”, as well as 4,000 other songs and a library of sound effects.
Rohan said gratefully, “Chris Blackwell the guy everybody don’t like, he loaned us(the family) the money”.
An investment that has since paid off well for Blackwell. He sold 25 percent of his share of the deal to Primary Wave in 2017.
Blackwell signed a US$50 million deal that gives Primary Wave an 80 percent share of two publishing catalogs, Marley’s songs and Blue Mountain Music. (The Marley Estate still owns a 75% stake in Bob Marley’s publishing.)
The children of Marley have leveraged his brand and cultural capital into financial capital through proper business structure and organizing. Many of them have their own successful careers as singers who tour the world with the halo effect of his legacy.
Rohan, the Marley Coffee founder said, “We were able to buy our father’s rights because when they sold it they gave the children first rights of refusal…We had (to raise the) money at the time to buy the publishing rights, name and likeness..we would never put our father’s likeness and rights in anybody’s hands.”
“Thats why today it’s us”, Rohan concluded on the subject.
Rohan’s sentiments are shared by his older brother Ziggy Marley. The Grammy winner told World Music Views it has not even crossed his mind to sell his own extensive musical catalogue much less his father’s musical rights.
“No sah, it’s not even a thing weh cross me mind, no man me a leave that for my children dem, maybe my grandchildren them will sell it.” He laughed.
He continued, “As me say is a bigger picture a gwan so we half I look beyond right now, haffi look ahead too..there has been offers, all (for) me father, people offer thing but we nah sell that so, no sah”.
The devoted Rastafarian rejected his doctors’ advice to have his toe amputated (which would have hindered his performing career), citing his religious beliefs. He continued to tour for hundreds of thousands of people as his brand began gaining traction in the US and Europe.
Marley collapsed while jogging in Central Park and was taken to the hospital, where it was found that his cancer had gotten worst. His last concert took place two days later at the Stanley Theater.
The Stir It Up singer was treated for eight months in a German hospital but after no progress he boarded a plane for his home in Jamaica. During the flight Marley’s vital functions worsened. He landed in Miami, where was taken to Cedars of Lebanon Hospital where he died on 11 May 1981, aged 36. His final words to his son Ziggy were: “Money can’t buy life.”
Marley was given a state funeral in Jamaica on 21 May 1981 that combined elements of Ethiopian Orthodoxy and Rastafari tradition. He was buried in a chapel near his birthplace with his guitar.
On 21 May 1981, Jamaican Prime Minister Edward Seaga delivered the final funeral eulogy to Marley, saying:
His voice was an omnipresent cry in our electronic world. His sharp features, majestic looks, and prancing style a vivid etching on the landscape of our minds. Bob Marley was never seen. He was an experience which left an indelible imprint with each encounter. Such a man cannot be erased from the mind. He is part of the collective consciousness of the nation.
