Bob Marley - in pictures

Bob with his mother, Cedella, and half-sister, Pearl, c. 1961
'When Bob was 15 or 16 his mother Cedella decided to start a new life in America and this is the photo she had taken to remind her son of her. It’s the first photo of Bob that exists. He had left school at about 12 and was working in various jobs, and then he took up music. At about this time he made his first record, Judge Not' Photograph: Freud PR

With his friend, Lloyd 'Bread' McDonald, in Trenchtown, c.1967
'Bob had earned his own nickname, Tuff Gong, by now – and he was certainly tough, incredibly disciplined; he exercised, ate a strict vegetarian diet, swam, ran on the beach everyday. By now, every woman falls in love with him. He is becoming the rasta, too, with his short dreads.' Photograph: Freud PR

Kingston c.1974
'Everyone smokes ganja in Jamaica. Bob probably had his first joint at 10. And because he was a rasta, weed had a sort of sacred significance. By the time of this photograph you can see Bob has crucially found his strength, by becoming part of an outcast sect. Nowadays anyone can say they are a rasta, but then they were the lowest of the low in Jamaican society. Bob is bringing that on himself; he is confident enough to do that.' Photograph: Freud PR

With Claudie Massop, 1978
'In the years after independence Kingston was divided in a politicised gang war. Bob was apolitical and knew gang leaders on both sides. Here he is pictured with Claudie Massop, leader of one of the PNP’s most violent gangs. Bob had almost been murdered in 1976 and went into exile in London a month later. While there he was persuaded to return by Massop among others, to perform in a "peace concert".' Photograph: Freud PR

Battersea Park, London, 1975
'Bob used to play football all the time. In London he rented a house in Chelsea with the band. They would come done and play football in Battersea park most days. They would take on anyone; the legend goes that a National Front team came down to the park and the Wailers beat them easily.' Photograph: Freud PR

Kingston One Love concert 1978
'Bob had been out of the country for 18 months after he had been shot. The One Love concert in 1978 saw him return at his most vibrant and alive. Many people in the country looked to him as the one man who had the ability to unite them. He was the returning hero.' Photograph: Freud PR