Today in Music History: Remembering Bob Marley
May 11, 2015
History Highlight:
Today in 1981, Jamaican singer-songwriter Bob Marley died at Miami's Cedars of Lebanon Hospital (now University of Miami Hospital), due to malignant melanoma. He was only 36. Regarded as a hero and near-deity in his native Jamaica and abroad, Marley was given a state funeral and buried near his birthplace in St. Ann's Parish, Jamaica. The 1984 Bob Marley compilation album, Legend, is the best-selling reggae album ever with sales of more than 20 million copies, and Time magazine chose Bob Marley & The Wailers' Exodus as the greatest album of the 20th century. In 1990, Marley's birthday of February 6 was proclaimed a national holiday in Jamaica.
Also, Today In:
1965 - Roger Miller was at No. 1 on the U.S. Country charts with "King Of The Road."
1970 - The triple-album of concert highlights from the Woodstock festival was released on Cotillion Records. The record went Gold within a couple of weeks.
1972 - John Lennon appeared on TV's Dick Cavett Show, claiming he was under surveillance by the FBI.
1974 - Led Zeppelin attended an Elvis Presley show in Los Angeles. All four members of Zeppelin met with Elvis after the show, where Elvis asked for each of the band members' autographs for his daughter, Lisa Marie.
1991 - Swedish pop duo Roxette scored their fourth U.S. No. 1 single with "Joyride."
2011 - One of the rarest rock t-shirts in the world — a 1979 Led Zeppelin tour shirt — sold for $10,000 on eBay. It was the largest sum ever paid for a vintage t-shirt.
Birthdays:
Eric Burdon, lead singer of the Animals, is 74.
Cornershop bassist Avtar Singh is 50.