On May 11, 1981, reggae icon Bob Marley died due to a rare form of skin cancer that had gone tragically untreated for years.
Mere days after Bob Marley played Madison Square Garden to thunderous applause in September 1980, the singer collapsed while jogging in Central Park. The subsequent diagnosis was bleak: aggressive melanoma on his toe had spread to his brain, liver, and lungs. Within a year, on May 11, 1981, Bob Marley died at the age of just 36.
Bob Marley left behind a wealth of iconic ballads like “Three Little Birds” and “One Love” that remain powerful for people around the world to this day. He also left behind many protest songs like “Get Up, Stand Up” and “Buffalo Soldier.” For years, his music had inspired countless people around the world, and when Bob Marley died suddenly, his fans were shocked and devastated.
However, Bob Marley’s death was tragically quite preventable. Had Marley noticed the cancerous spot on his toe earlier, it could have possibly been treated or cured. And even after Marley realized that the dark spot was more than just a soccer injury, he disregarded doctors’ advice and eventually pursued alternative but ineffective treatments. Unchecked, his cancer spread.
Cancer killed Bob Marley, but that hasn’t stopped conspiracy theories from taking root. Some believe that the CIA killed the singer with radioactive boots because of his support of certain Jamaican politicians. In fact, the CIA was behind an attempt on Marley’s life in 1976.
These theories aside, the answer to how Bob Marley died is a simple one: cancer. Bob Marley passed away in Miami en route home to Jamaica from Germany, where he’d been futilely pursuing alternative cancer treatments. His death left in 1981 a hole in the world of music that will never be filled.
