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Robert Nesta Marley-better known as Bob Marley-was born on February 6, 1945, in St. Ann Parish, Jamaica.
Marley’s mother, Cedella Malcolm (later Cedella Booker), a native of Jamaica, was only 18 when she married a much older white man, Norval Sinclair Marley, who worked as a plantation supervisor. They separated shortly after Bob’s birth. Originally from East Sussex, England, Norval was largely absent from his son’s life, and Bob talked about him in scathing terms later on.
Bob spent his early years in St. Ann Parish, in the rural village known as Nine Miles. One of his childhood friends in St. Ann was Neville “Bunny” O’Riley Livingston. Attending the same school, the two shared a love of music. Bunny inspired Marley to learn to play the guitar. Later Livingston’s father and Marley’s mother became involved, and they all lived together for a time in Kingston, according to Christopher John Farley’s Before the Legend: The Rise of Bob Marley.
Arriving in the Jamaican capital in the late 1950s, Marley lived in Trench Town, one of the city’s poorest neighborhoods. He struggled in poverty, but he found inspiration in the music around him. Trench Town had a number of successful local performers and was considered the Motown of Jamaica. Sounds from the United States also drifted in over the radio and through jukeboxes. Marley liked such artists as Ray Charles, Elvis Presley, Fats Domino, and the Drifters.
Marley and Livingston devoted much of their time to music. Under the guidance of Joe Higgs, Marley worked on improving his singing abilities. He met another student of Higgs, Peter McIntosh (later Peter Tosh) who eventually played an important role in Marley’s career.