- Check out Live Forever: The Stanley Theatre, Pittsburgh, PA, September 23, 1980 (Highlights) by Bob Marley on Amazon Music. Stream ad-free or purchase CD's and MP3s now on Amazon.com.
- On September 21st, 1980, Bob Marley collapsed while jogging in New York. Two nights later, he honored this sold-out date — Marley's last show before he died of cancer in 1981.
- Oct 22, 2011 At the show The Marley's asked that all the world check out Inspired by Bob Marley's vision of hope and unity, the Marley Family has cr.
- Bob Marley And The Wailers - Live Forever: The Stanley Theatre, Pittsburgh, PA, September 23, 1980 2011.
Jan 01, 2011 Live Forever: The Stanley Theatre, Pittsburgh, PA, September 23, 1980 (Bonus Tracks) Bob Marley & The Wailers Reggae 2011.
- 1.Greetings - Live At The Stanley Theatre, 9/23/1980
- 2.Natural Mystic - Live At The Stanley Theatre, 9/23/1980
- 3.Positive Vibration - Live At The Stanley Theatre, 9/23/1980
- 4.Burnin' & Lootin' - Live At The Stanley Theatre, 9/23/1980
- 5.Them Belly Full - Live At The Stanley Theatre, 9/23/1980
- 6.The Heathen - Live At The Stanley Theatre, 9/23/1980
- 7.Running Away - Live At The Stanley Theatre, 9/23/1980
- 8.Crazy Baldhead - Live At The Stanley Theatre, 9/23/1980
- 9.War / No More Trouble - Live At The Stanley Theatre, 9/23/1980
- 10.
- 11.Zion Train - Live At The Stanley Theatre, 9/23/1980
- 12.No Woman No Cry - Live At The Stanley Theatre, 9/23/1980
- 1.
- 2.
- 3.Redemption Song - Live At The Stanley Theatre, 9/23/1980
- 4.Coming In From The Cold - Live At The Stanley Theatre, 9/23/1980
- 5.Could You Be Loved - Live At The Stanley Theatre, 9/23/1980
- 6.Is This Love - Live At The Stanley Theatre, 9/23/1980
- 7.
- 8.Get Up Stand Up - Live At The Stanley Theatre, 9/23/1980
— It is Tuesday, September 23, 1980. The undisputed King of Reggae, Bob Marley, and his band The Wailers are in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the north-east of the United States. In a completely sold-out Stanley Theatre, Marley will bring the fans his music and message of rebellion, redemption, and Rastafari. Unknown to almost anyone except those in his inner circle, it will be the last time the Jamaican reggae star sets foot on stage. The singer has been diagnosed with advanced cancer which has spread through his body. After hundreds of concerts around the world, the most famous Rastaman appears on stage one last time before embarking on his train to Zion.
Silent killer
Bob Marley Live Forever Pittsburgh Forever Rare
Bob Marley navigated the dangerous and murderous waters of Jamaican society and politics for many years, surviving the ghetto in his younger years and an assassination attempt on his life in 1976. What the shadows and the guns on that Kingston night of December 1976 could not do, a much more sinister and silent killer eventually could: metastasised terminal cancer, the result of skin cancer (melanoma).
There has always been much debate on what happened exactly. The book So Much Things To Say: The Oral History of Bob Marley by American premier reggae expert and historian Roger Steffens sheds a clear light on the case. Bob Marley’s family on his father’s side was white. Christopher Marley, Bob’s cousin, states that there was a long history of, and thus genetic basis for, skin cancer and melanoma in Marley’s white family (Steffens 2017, 287).
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There was a long history of and thus genetic basis for skin cancer and melanoma in Marley’s white family
That medical family history continued with Bob. At some point, melanoma (skin cancer) manifested on the big toe of his right foot. It has often been suggested that the melanoma was the result of various (football related) injuries he sustained throughout his life. The most told story is that of a football game in Paris in 1977, one day before the start of the Exodus tour, during which a French journalist severely hurt Marley’s toe. Dr. Lowell Taubman dispels such suggestions in Steffens’ book completely, stating that melanoma does not arise from injuries.
Inattentiveness, ignorance and stubbornness, by both Marley and those around him, caused the melanoma cancer which manifested in his big toe to spread through his body unchecked after 1977. During the tours of 1979 and 1980, the singer seemed increasingly tired, his voice coarse, and his face drawn and gaunt. Band members and other associates later said that Marley had also increasingly been in pain and prone to sudden mood changes. The reggae star just kept on going however to spread his music and message.
Uprising & Redemption
A few months prior to the Stanley Theatre show in Pittsburgh, all had seemed well with Marley according to Fred Schruers, who worked for Rolling Stone magazine and was assigned to join The Wailers during their European Uprising tour. Marley at the time stood alone at the “summit of reggae music”, Schruers wrote, and it looked to be a “propitious moment in an epochal career as Bob brought his political message to an increasingly-involved and enthusiastically-widening public”.
The European Uprising tour started on May 30, 1980, with a concert in Zürich in Switzerland. The tour took the band to twelve countries, where they played a total of 35 concerts in June and July, playing for more than one millions fans in total. It was the largest-grossing tour of Europe ever at that time and on a completely unprecedented scale for any reggae band in the world. In June, Marley performed almost every day, with concerts mainly in large football stadiums such as the San Siro Stadium in Milan, Italy, where more than 100.000 people attended Marley’s concert.
The tour took the band to twelve countries, where they played for more than one millions fans in total. It was all on an completely unprecedented scale for any reggae band in the world
On June 30, 1980, while on tour, the Wailers’ Uprising album appeared in stores. A powerful collection of songs, it was the last of Marley’s body of work to appear in his lifetime. Testament to his incredible talent is ‘Redemption Song’, the last track on the album. The lyrics of the song express Marley’s vision of a united Africa and showcase his skill to combine the historical with the topical and build bridges between Africa and its diaspora. Starting with the Atlantic slave trade, Marley continues about the dangers of the nuclear age before getting to the most crucial part: in order to move forward, Africans on the continent as well as in the diaspora have to emancipate themselves from mental slavery. Marley was at the height of his creative powers and fame. As Robert A. Hill has written, “Redemption Song came after all the essential parts of Bob Marley’s brilliant career. Redemption Song stands at the apex of his career: there was nothing more for him to write. It was as if he had written his own eulogy by which he wished to be remembered” (Hill 2010, 200).
After the hugely successful European summer tour, Marley’s status as global reggae star would be cemented in the United States with an extensive road tour. With the luxury of hindsight, Marley’s condition must have deteriorated considerably during the resting period of two months between the European and American leg of the tour. The dream of finally conquering the States was not to be, as tragedy would soon strike.
New York
On September 16, the American leg of the Uprising tour started with a concert at the JB Hynes Auditorium in Boston, Massachusetts. It was followed the next day by a show at the Meehan Auditorium at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. New York City was the next destination. Marley and The Wailers had agreed to be the opening act for The Commodores at the Madison Square Garden on September 19 and 20 in an attempt to reach out to and connect with Afro-American audiences. Those two nights at the Garden, Marley performed with an “evident energy and fire [which] now seems heroic; perhaps he had a foreboding sense that these would truly count” (Schruers & Simon 2005). Although The Commodores, fronted by Lionel Richie, were the main act, Marley and The Wailers took the headlines. Many spectators reportedly walked out of the venue after The Wailers left the stage.
The concerts seemed to take a heavy toll on Marley, as he woke up confused on the Sunday morning after the second concert. The singer had trouble remembering the show of the previous evening and the fact that he had almost passed out. To get some fresh air and get energized, Marley and several friends went jogging in nearby Central Park. Bob collapsed at some point and was brought back to his hotel, where he gradually recovered although he remained severely shaken.
Marley collapsed and was brought back to his hotel, where he gradually recovered but remained severely shaken. The next day, he was diagnosed by a neurologist with a terminal cancerous brain tumour. The cancer had spread throughout his body
While The Wailers and the rest of the entourage traveled to Pittsburgh, Marley was diagnosed by a neurologist with a terminal cancerous brain tumor. The cancer had in fact spread throughout his body. The medical specialists gave the singer only a few more weeks, several months at most, to live. Marley might as well continue to perform, some even said, as he had but little time left and nothing could be done. Spurred on by people around him and despite the debilitating diagnosis, Marley pushed on to do one more, final show in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Pittsburgh
On Monday, September 22, Rich Engler, the promoter of the Stanley Theatre, received a call from the reggae star’s agent saying that there might be problem as Marley was not feeling well. Although he was sick and exhausted because of his illness, the demands of touring, and the entourage hanging around him, Marley traveled to Pittsburgh where he arrived on Tuesday morning. Around two in the afternoon, Marley and the band came in to do a sound check. Engler found Marley sitting on the couch in his dressing room, looking “depressed and ill”. Engler asked if Marley was going to do the concert, to which the singer supposedly answered, ” ’Mon, I wasn’t going to, but I’m going to for my band and everybody. It’s a sold-out show. I’m going to do it”. According to Engler, Marley added that “the guys need the money” (Mervis 2010).
That afternoon there was a long sound check. For reportedly 45 minutes, Marley sang ’Keep On Movin’ ’, making it the longest sound check the band ever did according to those present. It was also the saddest one, for everyone knew or felt this would probably be the last sound check they ever did with Bob (Salewicz 2009).
Forever Live
That night, on Tuesday, September 23, 1980, Marley took the stage for the last time at a Stanley Theatre filled to the rafters. While his friend Alan ‘Skill’ Cole looked on from behind the stage to make sure he would not collapse during the performance, Marley gave his all to his fans for the last time. The concert was a great success. Through sheer willpower as a messenger for reggae and Rastafari and with his last energy, Marley brought his life-affirming music to the stage, performing for more than ninety minutes straight for an audience oblivious to what it was really witnessing: Marley’s final goodbye.
Junior Marvin, the lead guitarist of the band, afterwards said that, “that show had to be great. Everyone was aware that Bob wasn’t at all well and that it could be the last show” (Salewicz 2009). Rich Engler called the show “magical” as Marley was “in good spirits”. And: “The Wailers had the place shaking so hard, [I] actually worried about the sturdiness of the balcony”. “I remember ’Redemption Song’ more than any other,” Engler said, “the passion that he put into it, I’ll remember for the rest of my life” (Mervis 2010). Engler would on another occasion remember that, “it was spectacular. I can’t even put into words how good it was. They just lit it up” (Orshoski 2013).
'We are going to dance to Jah music, dance!'
— Bob Marley, Pittsburgh 1980Doug Gebhard was the only journalist present at the Pittsburgh concert, or at least the only journalist who wrote a review about it. He was unaware of Marley’s precarious condition and the fact that it might be the last show. In his review for the Beavor Country Times, Gebhard praised the Jamaican singer for his ability to, “take an audience that is 80 percent white and lead it down the paths of righteousness, redemption and social equality”. Although the crowd appreciated the I-Threes, who opened the show with a short set, the fireworks only really started when Marley took the stage and started to perform the song ’Natural Mystic’. After having played for ninety minutes straight, an encore followed consisting of ’Redemption Song’, ’Coming In From The Cold’ and ’Is This Love’. Pulled by the “frantic climaxing” of an audience demanding more in “cries of ecstasy and sorrow”, Marley and his band came back one the last time to play a medley of ’Work’ and ’Get Up Stand Up’.
Immediately after the Pittsburgh concert, under the pretext of exhaustion, the remainder of the mammoth tour with more than twenty appointments in the United States and Canada was cancelled. The company in charge of promoting the tour was asked to prevent the media from finding out that Marley was sick.
The concert at the Stanley Theatre was the last after many years of touring around the world. Pittsburgh became the final stop of Marley’s train heading to Zion. Instead of finally connecting with African-American audiences and enjoying his popularity and career all-time high, the Jamaican Rastaman found himself back in a hospital in New York for cancer treatment.
Coming in from the Cold
In a final and desperate attempt to thwart the relentless attack on his life, Marley flew to cold and snowy Bavaria in Germany to be treated by Josef Issels, a German physician who had developed an experimental holistic treatment against cancer. In the depressing and cold surroundings of Bavaria, far away from his physical and spiritual home of warm and sunny Jamaica, Marley followed a rigid and painful treatment in the hopes of turning the tide. He seemed to improve for some time and his life was extended with several months. But when spring came, it was clear that the battle could not be won.
Longing to go home, Marley left Germany and flew to Miami. It would be his final stop for he would not make it to Jamaica alive. On May 11, 1981, just before noon and with his family close to him, Robert Nesta Marley died at the age of 36 in the Cedars of Lebanon Hospital. Ten days later, Jamaica paid its respects to its most famous son. Marley had a state funeral, a day-long ceremony which was concluded by driving his coffin from Kingston to his birthplace of Nine Mile. The roads were lined with hundreds of thousands of fellow Jamaicans, escorting their famous fellow countryman and reggae giant to his last resting place. To Zion.
King of Reggae
Like a flaming comet, Marley had emerged from Jamaica in the 1970s to light up the sky with his reggae music. Now, at the height of his own and reggae’s popularity, he was suddenly gone. In a lifespan of just 36 years, emerging from the poverty of the ghetto and having overcome numerous overwhelming obstacles, Marley had become the undisputed king of the music called reggae. A street poet unlike any other, Marley left this world as a global reggae superstar and Third World hero. A figurehead for reggae and Rastafari and a freedom icon. Because of everything that he was, everything that he did and shared with the world, the world still listens to his music and words today.
Recordings of Marley’s last concert were officially released in 2011 as the album Bob Marley and The Wailers Live Forever.
References
Campbell, H. (2010, August 29). ’Live Forever’ brings back memories – Cole remembers final Marley performance’. Jamaica Gleaner. http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20100829/ent/ent7.html
Bob Marley Live Forever Cd
Gebhard, D. (1980, September 24). ’Marley’s music almost a religion’. Beavor Country Times. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=4W0uAAAAIBAJ&sjid=T9oFAAAAIBAJ&pg=1274,5126234&dq=marley&hl=en
Hill, R.A. (2010). Redemption Works: From “African Redemption” to “Redemption Song”. Review: Literature and Arts of the Americas 43:2, 200-207.
Mervis, S. (2010, September 23). ’Reggae legend’s final concert, 30 years ago in Pittsburgh, will be remembered with tribute’. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. http://www.post-gazette.com/ae/music/2010/09/23/Reggae-legend-s-final-concert-30-years-ago-in-Pittsburgh-will-be-remembered-with-tribute/stories/201009230382
Orshoski, W. (2013, February 6). Bob Marley: The Lion’s Last Roar. Relix.com. http://www.relix.com/articles/detail/bob-marley-the-lion-s-last-roar1
Salewicz, C. (2009). Bob Marley. The Untold Story. London: HarperCollins Publishers.
Schruers, F. & Simon, K. (2005, January 10). ’HAIL, BOB MARLEY. On his last tour, the Rebel Superstar proved he could be loved forever’. High Times. http://knowearth.blogspot.nl/2006/08/bob-marleys-last-tour.html
Steffens, R. (2017). So Much Things To Say: The Oral History of Bob Marley. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
White, T. (2006). Catch a Fire. The life of Bob Marley. The Definitive Edition – Revised and Updated. New York: Owl Books. Henry Holt and Company.