Bob Marley is one of the most controversial figures in the history of music industry. Decades after his death in 1981, the star is nearly worshiped by fans across the globe. The musician was considered a legend for both his songs as well as his political leanings.
The world lost Bob Marley in 1981, but his groundbreaking contributions to reggae music and his legacy endure. His death was no less controversial than his life. He died under some mysterious circumstances, which led to several conspiracy theories suggesting darker narratives behind his death. One of those theories suggests that the U.S Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) killed the singer after agent Bill Oxley made a series of stunning confessions on his deathbed. Here’s the full truth behind Bob Marley’s death.
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Bob Marley Was Shot By Seven Unidentified Men A Year Before His Death
Bob Marley, born Robert Nesta Marley in 1945 in Jamaica, rose to prominence as the frontman for ‘The Wailers’ in the 1960s. His music is considered pathbreaking even today, decades after he left the world. Some of his best hits include ‘No Woman No Cry’ and ‘Redemption Song’, which also played a pivotal role in putting Jamaican music on the global stage.
Marley’s popularity and contribution are not just limited to music. Because of his firm political stance, Marley also went on to become a symbol of Jamaican culture, identity, and resistance against social and economic injustice.
While at the peak of his career in July 1977, Marley was diagnosed with malignant melanoma. The artist fought teeth and bone against the disease for his survival, but succumbed to it on May 11, 1981, at the age of 36. However, conspiracy theories have long swirled around the circumstances of his death, with one particularly sensational claim suggesting the involvement of the CIA.
The conspiracy theory of Bob Marley being shot dead by the CIA gained traction after a failed assassination attempt on his life on December 3, 1976. Two days before his Smile Jamaica concert, seven unidentified gunmen attacked Marley’s home in Jamaica’s Kingston.
Bob Marley was shot in his chest and arm. His wife, Rita, was shot in the head in her car in the couple’s driveway. However, the bullet only grazed her scalp, leaving her wounded but alive. His manager Don Taylor and his band employee Loius Griffins were also shot. Everyone affected in the attack fortunately survived their injuries.
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Theory About CIA’s Involvement In Bob Marley’s Substantiated By Agent’s Confession
The probe that followed linked the attack to politics as the upcoming elections at the time were approaching. The political tensions between the CIA-backed Jamaican Labour Party and the People’s National Party were rising at the time. The People’s National Party was associated with Cuba and Russia. Marley was widely seen as supportive of the People’s National Party, and was therefore considered an obvious target of the CIA.
Conspiracy theorists claim that the CIA orchestrated the failed assassination and also made several attempts later to kill him. The theory gained recent attention with alleged confessions from a former CIA agent named Bill Oxley, who claimed responsibility for 17 assassinations for the American Government between 1964 and 1985, including that of Bob Marley.
Oxley was reportedly on his deathbed at the Mercy hospital in Maine, when he confessed that he deceptively injected Marley with a cancer-causing substance. According to the conspiracy, Oxley posed as a photographer from the New York Times and gifted Marley a pair of Converse shoes laced with cancer viruses. The plan supposedly involved a nail in the shoe, piercing Marley’s skin during a fitting.
Though the narrative is perfectly dramatic, the confession lacks credible evidence. There is no documented record of a CIA agent named Bill Oxley, and the hospital mentioned in the story denies any such event.
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