Not surprisingly, it’s easy to find remembrances of Bob Marley in Jamaica‘s capital city, Kingston. The Bob Marley Museum located within quick and easy access of the city’s top hotels – Courtleigh Hotel & Suites, Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, and Knutsford Court to name a few – is probably the city’s top tourist attraction. If you look closely, though, you can trace Marley’s history in many other parts of Kingston as well. One such place, Jamaica National Stadium, is where you’ll find the statue pictured here. Marley isn’t memorialized here for his sporting exploits, though he is said to have been quite the footballer in his day. Instead the statue is meant to commemorate the legendary One Love Peace Concert Marley headlined here at the National Stadium back in 1978. That’s when Bob achieved what many people thought unthinkable, bringing together on-stage the leaders of Jamaica’s opposing political parties –– Edward Seaga of the JLP and the PNP’s Michael Manley –– for a symbolic joining of hands for peace and unity. The antagonism between Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. these days is bad, though it’s nothing compared to the rift between the JLP and the PNP in Jamaica back then. Gun battles between rival gangs associated with either side were not uncommon in the 70’s. The Peace Concert, ironically conceived by two such rival gangsters while incarcerated together, was meant to quell the violence and bring Jamaica back together. The statue helps to bring some of that rich history to life, making a must-see for lovers of music history when visiting Kingston.
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Finding Marley in Kingston
Not surprisingly, it’s easy to find remembrances of Bob Marley in Jamaica‘s capital city, Kingston. The Bob Marley Museum located within quick and easy access of the city’s top hotels – Courtleigh Hotel & Suites, Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, and Knutsford Court to name a few – is probably the city’s top tourist attraction. If you look closely, though, you can trace Marley’s history in many other parts of Kingston as well. One such place, Jamaica National Stadium, is where you’ll find the statue pictured here. Marley isn’t memorialized here for his sporting exploits, though he is said to have been quite the footballer in his day. Instead the statue is meant to commemorate the legendary One Love Peace Concert Marley headlined here at the National Stadium back in 1978. That’s when Bob achieved what many people thought unthinkable, bringing together on-stage the leaders of Jamaica’s opposing political parties –– Edward Seaga of the JLP and the PNP’s Michael Manley –– for a symbolic joining of hands for peace and unity. The antagonism between Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. these days is bad, though it’s nothing compared to the rift between the JLP and the PNP in Jamaica back then. Gun battles between rival gangs associated with either side were not uncommon in the 70’s. The Peace Concert, ironically conceived by two such rival gangsters while incarcerated together, was meant to quell the violence and bring Jamaica back together. The statue helps to bring some of that rich history to life, making a must-see for lovers of music history when visiting Kingston.
