Skip Marley on Grandfather Bob Marley's Impact: Nominee Spotlight
Bob Marley was prolific in more ways than one during his tragically short life.
In addition to his vast music catalog—including songs that became part of the fabric of world culture like "No Woman No Cry" and "Get Up, Stand Up"—the Jamaican artist was survived by at least 11 children and now an epic number of grandkids carry the Marley name.
The years-in-the-making biopic Bob Marley: One Love, in theaters Feb. 14, would have to have been four times' as long to pack in all the family dynamics, the reggae icon born Robert Nesta Marley having enjoyed a lot of love in his life before his death from cancer in 1981 when he was only 36. With widow Rita Marley, son Ziggy Marley and daughter Cedella Marley among the film's producers, they tried to get at the complicated truth of Bob's life as an activist, wayward family man and burgeoning superstar who didn't live to see his name become an entire vibe.
"We bring the culture and authenticity to it," Ziggy—Bob and Rita's eldest son—told Rolling Stone. "We lived it."
photosStar-Studded Families at the 2024 Grammys
Recalling a scene in the film that was "drafted and redrafted" for months in which Rita (Lashana Lynch) slaps Bob (Kingsley Ben-Adir) during an argument, director Reinaldo Marcus Green explained, "There are lines in that scene that are so deeply personal to the family. It was a decision for them to make, how much they wanted to share."
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"I would be very protective if I was making a movie about my father, too," he added. "But Ziggy's protection was to tell the truth. Rita would get angry and she would slap Bob. For us to see that is great. Ziggy wasn't saying, 'Let's pretend that didn't happen.'"
One Love primarily tells the tale of the making of Bob's seminal album Exodus in London after a would-be assassin's bullet hit him in the elbow at home in Kingston on Dec. 3, 1976, leading up to his return to Jamaica in 1978 to perform at a concert to promote peace. Here's a guide to the sprawling family watching over his legacy today:
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