bob marley news

[meggo]

interesting. i <3 bob.

Marley's wife plans to exhume his remains in Jamaica

Associated Press

POSTED AT 2:05 PM EST Wednesday, Jan 12, 2005

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia — The wife of reggae star Bob Marley said Wednesday that she plans to exhume his remains in Jamaica and rebury them in his "spiritual resting place," Ethiopia.

The reburial is set for an unspecified date after celebrations of the 60th anniversary of Marley's birth to be held next month in Ethiopia. Both the Ethiopian church and government officials have expressed support for the project, Rita Marley told The Associated Press.

"We are working on bringing his remains to Ethiopia," said Rita, a former backing singer for Marley's band, The Wailers. "It is part of Bob's own mission."

Marley was born in St. Ann, Jamaica, in 1945. He died of cancer in 1981.

Rita Marley said her husband would be reburied in Shashemene, 250 kilometres south of Addis Ababa where several hundred Rastafarians have lived since they were given land by Ethiopia's last emperor, Haile Selassie.

Hundreds of thousands of Jamaicans embraced Haile as their living god and head of the Rastafarian religious movement.

Marley was a devout Rastafarian, a faith whose followers preach a oneness with nature, grow their hair into long matted strands called dreadlocks and smoke marijuana as a sacrament.

"Bob's whole life is about Africa, it is not about Jamaica," said Rita, a singer who married Marley in 1966.

"How can you give up a continent for an island? He has a right for his remains to be where he would love them to be. This was his mission. Ethiopia is his spiritual resting place," she said. "With the 60th anniversary this year, the impact is there and the time is right."

Together with the African Union and the U.N. children's agency, Rita Marley has organized celebrations in Ethiopia, including a concert on Marley's birthday, Feb. 6, to be held in Addis Ababa.

The month-long celebration, dubbed Africa Unite after one of Marley's songs, aims to raise funds to help poor families in Ethiopia.

The Marley Family, Senegal's Baaba Maal and Youssou N'Dour, Angelique Kidjo of Benin and other African and reggae artists will perform as part of the $1 million US program.

The event is expected to be broadcast in Africa and beyond.

[zimmerman pt3]

Jamaican Tourism stocks just dropped 420 points

[Velvet]

Counting the minutes until Addis Ababa has a Hard Rock Cafe.

[Jared]

lol,, it kinda freaks me out when the start talking about digging people up, i mean who the heck want to be the guy doing that? do you think the just dig like a 10 x 10 x 10 hole around the grave and take the whole area, instead of just whats left of the box?