Two days before his performance at the concert, Bob Marley and his wife and manager were shot by three unknown armed men at his house.
Two days before his performance at the concert, Bob Marley and his wife and manager were shot by three unknown armed men at his house. Bob Marley, a Jamaican reggae singer, had scheduled to perform at a free music concert, "Smile Jamaica," in December 1976. Two days before his performance, three armed men entered Marley's property and shot him, his wife, Rita, and his manager. While Marley was shot in his hand, his wife was shot in the head and was severely injured. In an interview, Nancy Burk, Marley's friend, recounting the episode, said she was at the singer's house when the shootings took place. Three gunmen rushed into the property and sprayed the place with bullets, Burk told BBC. Marley's son Ziggy, who was not at home during the shooting, learned about the incident after it happened.
Several people believed that the shooting was a politically motivated assassination attempt. The free concert Smile Jamaica was organized by the then Prime Minister, Michael Manely. The attack served as a warning to Marley to keep out of politics. Both the singer and his wife survived the shooting and attended Smile Jamaica two days later.
Copied!