Why do some places observe Bob Marley Day on August 7?

February 6 is his birthday and the main date worldwide, but the Los Angeles City Council proclaimed a separate Bob Marley Day on August 7, 2012, timed to the DVD release of the documentary Marley. They are two different observances.

Who created Bob Marley Day?

There is no single founder. Fans marked his birthday after his 1981 death, Jamaica celebrated it from around 1990, and in 2008 the Government of Jamaica made February Reggae Month with his birthday at its center.

What is Bob Marley's best-selling album?

Legend, the 1984 greatest-hits compilation, is the best-selling reggae album of all time, with an estimated 25 million copies sold worldwide.

Bob Marley Day

Next celebratedSaturday, February 6, 2027

An observance on February 6 honoring the life, music, and cultural legacy of Jamaican reggae pioneer Bob Marley.

See how to celebrate

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Last updated March 20, 2026 · by the Holiday Calendar TeamHave an update or spot an error?

YEARLY DATEFebruary 6

OBSERVED INInternationally

CATEGORYPop Culture

SUBCATEGORYMusic

ORIGIN

Government Proclamation

FOUNDING ENTITY

Government of Jamaica

FIRST OBSERVED

2008

“Governor-General Sir Kenneth Hall read the Reggae Month proclamation at King's House on January 24, 2008.

HOW THE HOLIDAY CAME TO BE

A birthday observance the government later made official.

Marley's February 6 birthday has been observed informally since his death in 1981 and was celebrated as Bob Marley Day in Jamaica from around 1990. In 2008 the Government of Jamaica proclaimed February as Reggae Month, with Marley's birthday as its centerpiece.

View Reggae Month Proclamationvia Jamaica Information Service

INTRO

The 36-year life that keeps outselling the living

Bob Marley died at 36, and his catalog never stopped working. He has sold more than 75 million records worldwide, a figure that keeps climbing decades after his last session. Bob Marley Day, observed every February 6 on what would have been his birthday, marks a career that has outgrown the man who made it.

Here is the strangest part. He was never nominated for a Grammy while he was alive. The Recording Academy handed him a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001, twenty years after he was gone.

The day belongs to Jamaica first. It is where a guitarist from a Kingston slum became the voice the rest of the world used to hear an entire genre.

AT A GLANCE

About Bob Marley

Full name: Robert Nesta Marley
Born: February 6, 1945, Nine Mile, Jamaica
Died: May 11, 1981, age 36
Band: Bob Marley and the Wailers
Genre: Reggae, ska, rocksteady
Faith: Rastafari
Known for: Carrying reggae to a global audience

ORIGINS

Bob Marley Day history

INTRODUCTION

On the night of April 22, 1978, Bob Marley did something no record could do. On stage at Kingston's National Stadium, in front of more than 32,000 people, he called Jamaica's two warring political leaders up beside him.

Michael Manley and Edward Seaga were rivals whose supporters had been killing each other in the streets. During the song "Jamming," Marley took a hand of each and raised them together over his head. The country was watching a singer ask for a truce.

That a musician could even attempt it tells you what Marley had become at home.

CHAPTER 01

From Trenchtown to the world

He grew up in Trenchtown, a poor quarter of Kingston, and led a band called the Wailers. The turn came in 1973, when Island Records released their album Catch a Fire and packaged reggae for listeners who had never heard it.

The next year did the rest. Eric Clapton covered Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff" and took it to number one in the United States. Millions of people met Bob Marley through someone else's voice first.

CHAPTER 02

A short life, cut shorter

In 1977 a dark spot appeared under one of Marley's toenails. He thought it was a soccer injury. It was acral lentiginous melanoma, a rare and aggressive skin cancer.

The cancer spread to his lungs, liver, and brain. He died on May 11, 1981, at 36. Jamaica gave him the Order of Merit, one of its highest honors, and a state funeral.

CHAPTER 03

How February 6 became official

People marked his birthday almost at once, and by around 1990 Jamaica was celebrating it as Bob Marley Day. Toronto's mayor began proclaiming February 6 the same way, year after year.

In 2008 the Government of Jamaica went further and named all of February Reggae Month, with Marley's birthday as its anchor. The grassroots tribute had become government policy.

TIMELINE

Timeline

Marley born in Nine Mile

Robert Nesta Marley is born on February 6 in the village of Nine Mile, in Jamaica's Saint Ann Parish.

Catch a Fire released

Island Records issues the Wailers' album Catch a Fire, the breakthrough that introduced reggae to international audiences.

Clapton hits number one

Eric Clapton's cover of Marley's I Shot the Sheriff reaches the top of the US Billboard Hot 100.

One Love Peace Concert

At Kingston's National Stadium, Marley joins the hands of rival leaders Michael Manley and Edward Seaga during Jamming.

Marley dies at 36

Marley dies on May 11 of melanoma; Jamaica awards him the Order of Merit and holds a state funeral.

Jamaica proclaims Reggae Month

The Government of Jamaica names February Reggae Month, anchored on Marley's February 6 birthday.

BY THE NUMBERS

Bob Marley Day by the Numbers

25M+: Legend sold worldwide
18x: US platinum for Legend
943: Weeks on Billboard 200

GOOD TO KNOW

Bob Marley's signature songs

One Love / People Get Ready

The track from Exodus that the BBC later named its Song of the Millennium.

No Woman, No Cry

A tender Trenchtown ballad whose live 1975 version became one of his best-loved recordings.

Redemption Song

A spare, solo-acoustic closer built around a call to free your own mind.

I Shot the Sheriff

Marley's own version preceded Eric Clapton's chart-topping 1974 cover.

Three Little Birds

The endlessly covered reassurance that every little thing is gonna be all right.

Could You Be Loved

A 1980 dancefloor cut that proved his reach beyond roots reggae.

WHY THIS DAY MATTERS

Why We Love Bob Marley Day

DIPLOMACY

Cities honor him as a peace ambassador, not only a musician.

When Toronto's mayor proclaims the day, the city calls Marley an advocate for human rights and an ambassador of peace, not just a hitmaker. The observance keeps that civic standing in view, the reason leaders still invoke his name.

RECOGNITION

It marks reggae's global arrival

TIME named Marley's album Exodus the best of the entire twentieth century, an honor almost no other popular record has held. The birthday anchors how a small island's music reached every continent.

ECONOMY

It anchors a month of Jamaican cultural tourism

Since 2008 Marley's birthday has been the centerpiece of Jamaica's official Reggae Month. The observance drives concerts, museum visits, and cultural programming around a national export.

GET INVOLVED

How to Celebrate Bob Marley Day

Listen past the greatest hits

Go beyond the radio staples and play a full studio album like Survival or Uprising. The deeper cuts carry the political and spiritual weight the singles only hint at.

VISIT

Visit a Reggae Month event

If you are in Jamaica, February fills with concerts and exhibitions built around the birthday. Check the Jamaica Information Service for the official programming.

READ

Read up on Rastafari

Marley's faith shaped nearly everything he wrote, from the imagery to the politics. Learning its basics turns familiar lyrics into something you can actually follow.

LEARN

Learn the story behind a lyric

Look into what songs like Redemption Song or No Woman, No Cry were actually about. The personal context behind the choruses tends to be sharper than the singalong suggests.

GET

Get a skin check

Marley died of a melanoma that began as a spot under a toenail. Using the day to book a dermatology screening is a quiet nod to how avoidable his death was.

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