Newly released Bob Marley biopic reminds us that everything will be fine in Jamaica – where you can visit the singer’s childhood home
Museum guides don’t usually sing when they give tours, but that happens when I visit Bob Marley’s former home in the Jamaican capital Kingston.
‘No woman… No cry…’ 24-year-old Oneika Young sings with passion and reminds visitors of one of the reggae star’s most famous hits.
Next to me in what is now the Bob Marley Museum is a fascinating parade of memorabilia, from tour posters and props to his denim-covered bed and the Land Rover, customized with red, gold and green striped seats, in which the singer drove around. .
Such details shape a soulful artist who rose from rural poverty to superstardom, playing to audiences of more than 100,000 people. Tragically, it all ended abruptly when Marley died of cancer in 1981 at the age of 36, leaving behind great music that is as popular as ever.
The late singer currently has more than eight million Instagram followers and is back in the spotlight with the release of biopic Bob Marley: One Love, which hits UK cinemas on Wednesday.
Jammin’: A new Bob Marley biopic features ‘alluring’ images of the star’s homeland of Jamaica. Above is the coastal town of Ocho Rios, where some Bob Marley tours depart
Above, Kingsley Ben-Adir as Marley and Lashana Lynch as his wife in Bob Marley: One Love
His eldest son, Ziggy, also a major reggae artist, says audiences can expect an exploration of “his pain, his sadness, his joy and his redemption.”
With its alluring images of Jamaica’s beaches, waterfalls and mountains, the film will undoubtedly encourage us to visit Marley’s charismatic homeland. The island has long been popular with British travelers and aims to attract a record 250,000 travelers annually by 2025.
Stretching over 145 miles, Jamaica offers everything from spicy jerk dishes prepared at roadside barbecues to visits to coffee plantations in the lofty Blue Mountains and sunset parties on Negril’s Seven Mile Beach. But it is Bob Marley who remains Jamaica’s most famous export. Here’s how to pay tribute.
WHERE IT ALL STARTED…
In the village of Nine Mile, visitors can tour the two-room house where Marley grew up (photo)
The village of Nine Mile, a 90-minute drive east of Montego Bay, is where Bob Marley was born in 1945 and is a popular excursion from the resorts along Jamaica’s north coast.
His parents were a 60-year-old white plantation overseer, Norval Marley, and 17-year-old Cedella Malcolm (they later married when she was 18) who moved to Kingston when her son was 12.
Tours of the shrine-like complex begin at her home and then move uphill to Mount Zion, home to a small Ethiopian Orthodox church and the rudimentary two-room house in which Marley grew up, plus a marbled mausoleum where Bob and Cedella are buried. . A five-hour group tour from Ocho Rios costs from £93 pp including lunch (islandroutes.com).
BOB MARLEY MUSEUM
Above, the Bob Marley Museum in Kingston
Number 56 Hope Road is a sprawling 19th-century mansion in central Kingston, where Bob Marley lived from 1973, surrounded by fellow musicians and Rastafarians. A highlight is the wood-lined studio where hits like Buffalo Soldier were recorded, along with bullet holes left after a 1976 assassination attempt.
For the richest experience, book a combined tour visiting the atmospheric recording studios of Tuff Gong, a short drive away, where you can see rehearsal rooms and vinyl record pressing machines (tours from £20, bobmarleymuseum.com).
STRAWBERRY HILL
This wooden luxury hotel is owned by Chris Blackwell, the Jamaican record producer who brought Bob Marley and The Wailers to the world’s attention. It is located at an altitude of 950 meters in the majestic Blue Mountains, an hour’s drive northeast of Kingston.
Music fans can visit a Gold Room with awards presented to Blackwell’s label, Island Records, including some from Marley and his band.
Nestled in the Blue Mountains, the Strawberry Hill Hotel (pictured) is owned by Chris Blackwell, the record producer who shaped Marley’s musical career
Guests stay in all-white cottages, including one that references the star’s nickname ‘Tuff Gong’. Double rooms from £438, B&B (strawberryhillhotel.com).
THE TEENS
Marley first visited the US at the age of 17 when his mother went to live in Wilmington, Delaware. He worked as a waiter, a laboratory assistant and at the Chrysler auto assembly plant in nearby Newark.
His time as a forklift driver is mentioned in the song Night Shift and the US city celebrates this link with an annual People’s Festival, now in its 30th year (August 31). volksfestival.com).
CLOSER TO HOME
Marley visited Britain several times in the 1970s and the One Love film features scenes shot in London. A blue English Heritage plaque marks the singer’s home at 42 Oakley Street, Chelsea, where he lived while recording the album Exodus. Blue Badge guide Chris Van Hayden offers private tours of associated sites, from £288 for two hours (chrisvanhaydentours.uk).