I recalled the announcement of Bob Marley's death; it was May 11, 1981, and we were getting ready for our finals in my second year at teachers’ college. Those days, we only had two radio stations and one TV station in Jamaica. We were not tuned into JBC TV, but everyone switched back and forth between RJR and JBC radios to hear the latest updates on Bob’s death.

Bob’s music filled the airwaves, but I recalled how dull that day was. Sadness engulfed the entire island of Jamaica. The radio stations made it worse, as for almost 24 hours, all we heard was Bob Marley’s songs played, from his first recording, “judge not,” to the most popular at the time, “Redemption song.” Pam, padam-pam, pam pam pam pam, pam …..Ole pirates, yes, they rob I……

Bob’s first recording was in 1962, a bad boy ska riddim, “Judge not” and he was a huge part of the development eras of Jamaican music, ska, rocksteady, and early reggae. We still dance to Bob’s ska and rocksteady songs as we did in the 60s and 70s tunes, but we mostly listen and bob our heads to his…