Bob Marley Net Worth: $40 Million (approx.)
Net Worth: | $40 Million (approx.) |
Date of Birth: | Feb 6, 1945 – May 11, 1981 |
Age at death: | 36 years |
Height: | 5 ft 7 in (1.72 m) |
Profession: | Singer, Musician, Guitarist, Songwriter |
Nationality: | Jamaica |
Bob Marley Net Worth was around $40 million at the time of his death. Bob Marley was a globally acknowledged Jamaican reggae singer, songwriter, and musician.
Bob Marley’s estate was worth $15 million at the time of his death in 1981.
In the decades after his death, Bob Marley’s music and image rights have generated millions of dollars in income for his heirs. The licensing fees reportedly generate over $500 million in revenue per year. The estate only benefits from the authorized (legal) deals. Today the Bob Marley estate generates $25 – $30 million per year in royalties for the family. If he were alive today, Bob Marley net worth would have been over $200 million.
But Bob died without a will, reportedly because his Rastafarian faith prohibited him from acccepting his own mortality through the creation of something like a will.
In Jamaican law, when someone dies without a will, also known as “intestate“, 10% of the wealth immediately goes to their widow. Over time the widow can ultimately accumulate an additional 45% share of the estate, for a total of 55%. The remainder is equally divided among any living children. And when Rita dies, the full 100% control is divided among his living children.
Jamaican law also requires an advertisement be posted following the person’s death, seeking potential heirs. In Marley’s case, this ad received hundreds of applications from people claiming to be his children.
His widow Rita Marley forged Bob’s signature on a will that supposedly pre-dated his death. This will left the majority of his estate to herself. When one of Marley’s longtime business managers found about what happened, he started what became a 10 year legal battle that at up $6 million, roughly half the value of the estate, in legal fees.
in the end, the Jamaican court ordered that control of Marley’s estate remain with Chris Blackwell, the owner of Bob’s record company Island Music. Blackwell managed the estate through Island Logic Ltd until 2001, at which point full control passed to Rita Marley and his 11 recognized legitimate children.
Bob Marley Net Worth at Death:
Bob Marley Net Worth was around $40 million at the time of his death. Bob Marley’s estate was worth $15 million at the time of his death in 1981.
Bob Marley is known as a master of reggae and an icon of the Rastafari movement. Marley’s records have sold over 75 million copies worldwide, making him one of the best-selling artists of all time. Bob Marley passed away from acral lentiginous melanoma in 1981.
Bob Marley Biography:
Born | Robert Nesta Marley 6 February 1945 Nine Mile, Saint Ann Parish, Colony of Jamaica |
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Died | 11 May 1981 (aged 36) Miami, Florida, US |
Other names | Donald MarleyTuff Gong |
Occupation | Musiciansongwriter |
Spouse(s) | Rita Anderson (m.1966) |
Partner(s) | Cindy Breakspeare (1977–1978) |
Children | 11, including SharonCedellaDavid “Ziggy”Stephen,Rohan,Julian,Ky-Maniand Damian |
Parent(s) | Norval Sinclair Marley,Cedella Booker |
Relatives | Skip Marley (grandson)Nico Marley (grandson)Selah Marley (granddaughter) |
Musical career | |
Genres | Reggaeskarocksteadyfolk |
Instruments | Vocalsguitarpercussion |
Years active | 1962–1981 |
Labels | Beverley’s,Studio One,JAD,Wail’n Soul’mUpsetterTuff Gong,Island |
Website | bobmarley.com |
On February 6, 1945, Bob Marley was born to 59-year-old Norval Sinclair Marley and 18-year-old Cedella Malcolm in Nine Mile, Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica.
Bob Marley father was a white Jamaican from Sussex, England, who served in the Royal Marines and worked as a plantation overseer. Bob rarely saw his father, and after Norval’s death in 1955, Cedella and Bob moved to Trenchtown.
Bob Marley mother later married American civil servant Edward Booker and had two kids, Richard and Anthony. Marley also had a half-sister, Claudette, from his mother’s relationship with Thadeus Livingston, the father of Bob’s friend and future bandmate Bunny Wailer.
Bob and Bunny had been childhood friends and played music together when they were students at Stepney Primary and Junior High School in Nine Mile. While living in Trenchtown, Bob and Bunny became members of a vocal group with Peter Tosh, Beverley Kelso and Junior Braithwaite. Musician Joe Higgs lived nearby and mentored the group, giving them vocal lessons and beginning to teach Marley how to play guitar.
Bob Marley Music Career
Bob Marley began his music career in 1963 when he formed The Wailers with Bunny Wailer, Peter Tosh, Junior Braithwaite, Beverley Kelso, and Cherry Smith, forging a distinctive songwriting and vocal style that would later resonate with audiences worldwide.
The Wailers released some of the earliest reggae records with producer Lee Scratch Perry, and their single “Simmer Down” became a #1 hit in Jamaica in February 1964. After the original line-up disbanded in 1974, Marley pursued a solo career that culminated in the release of the album “Exodus” in 1977, which established his worldwide reputation and put Marley on the map as one of the world’s best-selling artists, with sales of more than 75 million albums and singles.
Including his work with The Wailers, Marley released 13 studio albums (1 released posthumously) and 6 live albums, and notable singles include “Redemption Song,” “I Shot the Sheriff,” “No Woman, No Cry,” “One Love,” and “Get Up, Stand Up.” Though Marley was primarily known for reggae, his music also contained elements of ska and rocksteady, and his greatest hits album, “Legend,” is the highest-selling reggae album of all time.
Bob Marley Wife:
On February 10th, 1966, Bob Marley married Alpharita Constantia “Rita” Anderson in Kingston, Jamaica. He fathered 4 children with Rita and adopted her 2 children from previous relationships.
He also had 5 children with other women. Sons Ziggy, Stephen, and Damian grew up to become Grammy-winning reggae musicians.
Bob Marley Interesting Facts:
- Bob Marley spent most of his life in Jamaica, but he relocated to London after a 1976 assassination attempt in which Bob, Rita, manager Don Taylor, and band employee Louis Griffiths were shot.
- Bob Marley was a committed Rastafari, and he expressed a huge sense of spirituality in his music. As per Marley’s biographers, he affiliated with the Twelve Tribes Mansion, one of the Mansions of Rastafari and belonged to a denomination known as Tribe of Joseph, as he was born in February.
- Bob Marley Rastafarian faith influenced his support of Pan-Africanism, the belief that Africans all over the world should be united.
- Bob was a vocal proponent of marijuana and believed it should be legalized. Bob Marley began using marijuana in 1966 after he converted from Catholicism to the Rastafari faith.
- Bob Marley was arrested and fined for cannabis possession in London in 1968.
Bob Marley Death Reason:
In July 1977, Bob Marley was diagnosed with a malignant melanoma under his toenail. Marley’s doctor advised him to have his toe amputated, but Bob decided against it, due to his religious beliefs and the fact that an amputation could interfere with his ability to perform. Bob Marley opted to have the nail and nail bed removed, and the area was covered by a skin graft from his thigh. Bob Marley continued touring, and his last concert took place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on September 23, 1980.
Two days earlier, Bob Marley had collapsed while jogging in Central Park and discovered during a hospital visit that his cancer had spread to his brain. After trying an alternative cancer treatment at Josef Issels’ Bavarian clinic, Bob Marley decided to return to Jamaica.
His condition deteriorated during his journey, and when his plane landed in Miami, Bob Marley was taken to Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Miami (now University of Miami Hospital). On May 11, 1981, Marley died at the age of 36. Bob Marley final words were “Money can’t buy life,” spoken to his son Ziggy. Bob Marley received a state funeral in Jamaica, who later honored him with a designated Order of Merit.
Bob Marley Legacy
Bob Marley was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, and “Time Magazine” named “Exodus” Album of the Century in 1999. In 2001, Bob Marley received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2004, Bob Marley was ranked #11 on “Rolling Stone” magazine’s list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time and inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame. Bob Marley statues were erected in Kingston, Jamaica, and in Banatski Sokolac, Serbia, and Bob’s former home at 56 Hope Road in Kingston became the Bob Marley Museum in 1987.