reated for a soccer injury in 1977, doctors discovered cancerous cells in his toe. Marley injured his foot. Due to Marleys Rastafarian beliefs, he refused to have surgery on his foot and continued to tour over the years. In 1980, Marley collapsed while jogging in New Yorks Central Park; by that time, the cancer had spread throughout his lungs and brain. Over the next eight months, Marley went through a series of radiation therapy and treatments, but his health continued to decline. In April 1981, Marley was awarded the prestigious Order of Merit by the Jamaican government. He later died in a Miami hospital, on May 11, 1981 near his mothers home. Ten days later, he was given a state funeral in Jamaica, attended by more than 100,000 people. In the years following Marleys death, controversy raged over his estate, which was worth an estimated $30 million when he died. As Marley had not left a will, Jamaican law gave half of his estate to his widow and the remainder to his children.As Marley recorded such a volume of work, unreleased material continued to appear on the market years after his death. In 1992, an album set containing 78 songs entitled Songs of Freedom was released, featuring a display of his work from his first single to his final concert performance in 1980. By a little more than a decade after his death, the annual royalty income for Marleys music had increased to an estimated $2.5 million, ranking him among the largest-selling recording artists of all time. In 1994, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.Although Bob died at the early age of 36, he influenced the lives of many, including the people of Jamaica, songwriters, and me personally. Bob Marleys essence continues to flourish through his son Ziggy Marley who is currently making music based on his fathers ideals....
