Bob Marley was known as a rebel and innovator on many fronts. As a musical rebel he was able to challenge the Kingston Music Mafia and break away and create music and lyrics that extended far beyond "reggae".
Along with his group The Wailers, consisting of Marley, Peter (Mackin) Tosh and Neville 'Bunny Wailer' Livingston; he was able to bring reggae out of the caribbean and into the lives of all world citizens. Marley's reggae became the vehicle of discontent and brought about a lyrical consciousness and the whole world listened.
Bob Marley and the Wailers became the shepherds of this "new" music. By 1970 the Wailers were signed by Chris Blackwell's Island Records, a label with a reputation for integrity and world-wide distribution. Blackwell gave the Wailers the funding and artistic freedom that they never experienced in Kingston.
While the Wailers went through a number of personnel changes, Marley remained as the fiery topical songwriter and frontman. From this position, Marley led the wailers to international acclaim. By the time of his death in 1981, Bob Marley had produced over 20 albums and had made reggae a dynamic force worldwide.
