February 8, 2016
Black History at Home and Abroad: 13 Leaders Whose Impact Went Global
BOB MARLEY
From songs that moved audiences and cooled political unrest to expanding the reach of reggae music, Marley was for sure an international phenom. He even lived in the U.S. for a short time after marrying Rita Marley, and reportedly worked in Wilmington, Delaware, as a DuPont lab assistant and on the assembly line at a Chrysler plant, under an alias.
His music and impact abroad would become bigger after his 1981 death in Miami, and his messages of peace are echoed today, as young men, women, and children fight against poverty, war, discrimination and inequities. He was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, and in 1999 his 1977 album “Exodus†was named “Album of the Century” by Time Magazine. Since its 1984 release, Marley’s “Legend†compilation has annually sold more than 250,000 copies according to Nielsen Sound Scan, and it is only the 17th album to exceed sales of 10 million copies since SoundScan began ranking albums in 1991.