The Bob Marley story: Was that Grammy overdue?

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The 67th Annual Grammy Awards took place last Sunday.  At the awards, Bob Marley – One Love won the award for Best Reggae Album. The nominees in that particular category were Collie Buddz’ Take It Easy, Vybz Kartel’s Party With Me, Shenseeas’ Never Get Late Here and somewhat ironically, The Wailers’ Evolution.

The album was the soundtrack for the 2024 movie, Bob Marley – One Love, an original motion picture soundtrack which includes recordings of Bob Marley and The Wailers. “Original motion picture soundtrack” might have been dramatizing it a little – the album included classics such as Exodus, Jammin and Turn Your Lights Down Low.

The timing of this particular Grammy was interesting – February 6 (today) was the late singer’s birthday and that was probably on the minds of the academy. That, and the fact that he would have been turning 80 if he were still alive.

The fact that he hadn’t won this particular Grammy was something of a travesty – Marley tended to put out some pretty solid albums. Heck, he had never been nominated for any Grammy. The nerve of these people!

Oh, he was recognized with a Grammy in 2001 – the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, an honour given by the Recording Academy to ‘performers who during their lifetimes, have made creative contributions of outstanding significance to the field of recording’. And it was fully deserved – Robert did some fantastic work.  

So, why no Grammy apart from that Lifetime Achievement one and this one about a movie that is celebrating him?

Well, speaking from a perspective of brutal honesty, it took the world a while to fully grasp the magnitude of Bob Marley’s legacy. Jamaica is an island nation of 1.5 million people today. That means when Bob Marley was at his peak, it had about 1 million people, if we are to think optimistically.

It has taken time but we have slowly started to grasp the significance of this tiny island nation on pop culture. Examples? Bob Marley, who, along with Peter Tosh and Jimmy Cliff, built reggae as a genre from the late ‘60s. We can look at their bob sleigh team that competed at the 1988 Winter Olympics – heck, they even made a movie about it (anyone remember Cool Runnings?).

Their impact in athletics goes beyond that of course – Jamaica gave us Usain Bolt, Yohan Blake, Asafa Powell, and Shelly – Ann Fraser – Pryce. Jamaica gave us Jamaican jerk chicken, something for which we duly thank the Lord. The list is long, endless and in some cases, worrying (I won’t go too far into that, though – some of you may get ideas).

So, the planet is now very aware that Jamaica is not simply some little island nation where the people party all day long in the sun and speak patios. This is a nation with possibly the highest cross-cultural impact per capita on the globe. This makes the lobbying process easier, so when the soundtrack for Bob Marley – One Love was submitted and folks found out he had never won a Grammy for Best Reggae Album, the pressure was on.

Think about it: albums like Catch a Fire (singles included Stir It Up), Burnin (which included the single I Shot the Sheriff) and the album Live (which included the gorgeous No Woman No Cry), were not even nominated for the Best Reggae Album Grammy. And he had 13 studio albums, 2 soundtrack albums, 6 live albums, 9 compilation albums and 10 remix albums. Safe to say it was overdue.

You cannot exactly be surprised at this lack of recognition, of acknowledgement. Bob Marley was at his peak in the mid to late ‘70s. Back then, he was a black, weed smoking artiste whose lifestyle included notable reports of womanizing (he had 11 children from 6 women). In an era where racism was rampant and conservatism was the norm, that lack of recognition from a body that refers to itself as the ‘Recording Academy’ really shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. In today’s more progressive times, this oversight would never have happened.

The win must feel somewhat cathartic for the Marley family. Ziggy Marley has won 8 Grammys but as Buju Banton is on record for saying, these were probably make-up Grammys for his dad by the Academy. Well, seeing as the winner for Best Reggae Album is the soundtrack for Bob Marley – One Love, and this album included several Marley classics, the family will feel a little better about that win.