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Robert Nesta Marley is born in Jamaica, his dad a middle age white British naval officer and mom a teenage Jamaican mother.
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Records his first song in Kingston. Recorded by legendary reggae producer, Leslie Kong.
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Up until 1966: The band, who change their name to Bob Marley and the Wailers, record over 70 songs for producer Coxsone Dodd, including many tracks Marley would re-record to international acclaim in the 1970s.
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He creates the original Wailers band. Then known as the Teenagers , with Peter Tosh, Bunny Livingstone, Junior Braithwaite, Beverley Kelso and Cherry Smith.
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Marley marries soul singer Rita Anderson, a member of The Soulettes and later the I-Threes, with whom he will have five children. Shortly after marrying, he moves to the US to work in a factory.
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Until 1971: The band record with noted Jamaican producer Lee "Scratch" Perry. This period includes many classic tracks such as Small Axe, My Cup and Sun is Shining.
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Marley forms his own record label, Tuff Gong.
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Bob Marley and the Wailers sign to Chris Blackwell's Island Records. They release the album Catch a Fire, the first to make a major impression in music markets outside the Caribbean. Livingston and Tosh, however, leave the band to embark on solo careers.
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Eric Clapton covers The Wailers' I Shot the Sheriff and takes it into the UK top 10, further adding to their reputation.
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The band release the seminal album Natty Dread, which contains their landmark song No Woman, No Cry. Marley becomes a star all over the globe.
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Marley and wife Rita are injured in an assassination attempt in Jamaica. Days later, he takes to the stage with his arm in a sling.
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Marley breaks one of the toes on his right foot in a football accident in Paris. Doctors find cancerous cells and remove them.
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He holds the One Love Peace Concert in Kingston, bringing the leaders of Jamaica's rival political factions to the stage to shake hands.
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Marley and The Wailers kick off the year with a concert in the newly-independent African nation of Zimbabwe. Later in the year, while jogging in New York's Central Park, Marley collapses. Doctors discover cancer has spread to his lungs, liver and brain.
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Marley dies in hospital in the US, aged 36.
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The Marley Museum is opened in Kingston, on the site of his former home.
