Inside Bob Marley’s final ever concert as he secretly battled cancer

27 August 2024, 10:54

23rd September 1980.

The concert that night at the Stanley Theater in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, would be the final time Bob Marley would ever step on stage.

Not that anybody knew it to be the case, as Bob Marley and the Wailers were amid their biggest tour to date.

The Uprising Tour in support of their 1980 studio album of the same name saw the reggae superstars perform in countries they'd never been to yet, and their stardom was arguably at its greatest.

Yet, it wouldn't last, as there was an underlying illness that would ultimately end Bob Marley's life.

• How many children did Bob Marley have, and where are they now?
• How the Windrush Generation inspired music in the UK, from Bob Marley to UB40
• Who is Bob Marley's wife Rita Marley? Singer's age, family, children and career explained
• Bob Marley's 15 greatest ever songs, ranked

In 1977, Bob was diagnosed with a type of malignant melanoma in his right toe, yet ignored doctor's advice to have it amputated on the grounds of his religious beliefs.

Marley had his nail and nail bed removed instead, continuing to tour the world, writing the music we all know and love.

Two days prior to the concert in Pittsburgh, however, Marley realised that his decision to let the cancer grow had inevitably caught up with him.

Despite his frailty, the reggae legend powered ahead with the concert which would ultimately turn out to be his last.

Marley was in New York two days before the Pittsburgh concert, and had a distressing episode having collapsed in Central Park whilst jogging.

Music journalist Rob Patterson interviewed Bob in New York, and recognised he looked "gaunt and subdued" for his 35 years of age.

When he asked if the Pittsburgh concert would go ahead, Marley responded: "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."

It paints a picture of Bob Marley's unwavering commitment to his fans and bandmates, in spite of his diminishing health.

His wife Rita implored him to cancel the tour there and then, but Bob was driven to keep on moving by his music and his fans.

When Bob arrived in Pittsburgh, the morning of the concert his agent called the promoter Rick Engler.

"I could see that he did not look well,” Engler later recalled to Relix magazine. "His face was drawn, and he looked very, very, very tired."

"He looked worn out, but I just thought he had a cold. I said, 'How you feeling?’ He goes, 'No good, mon. Very, very tired. Not well at all.' I said, 'Are you going to play?' And he said, 'I probably shouldn’t, but I need to do it.

"I need to do it for my band, they need the money. We’re here; we’re gonna play.’ I said, ‘That’s great, but if you can’t do it, don’t. Don’t push it.’ He said, 'We’re gonna do it, no problem.'"

Bob pushed ahead with the concert, even though his band were fully aware of his condition, which deeply troubled his bandmates.

However, when Bob appeared on stage that night, no one was any the wiser of his illness as he gave his performance his all.

Bob Marley - Last Words to his Fans

One of the 3,500 lucky concertgoers in attendance was local 19-year-old student David Meerman Scott, who, by happenstance, decided to take a camera and would later publish photos of the legendary occasion.

"Bob came out to thunderous applause," Scott remembered in a blog he posted about it in 2012.

"He was dancing the entire 90-minute show except for the acoustic ‘Redemption Song’ which he performed laid back and solo.

"They did three encores as if Bob just didn’t want to leave the stage. Nobody in the audience knew that Bob was sick.

"His energy level was extremely high and he had total command of the audience," Scott added.

Similarly, his wife Rita gushed about the energy Bob shared with the crowd that night, saying: "My strongest memory was of the audience, watching them observe his movement."

"Bob’s connection to his music was spirit and power. He was such a force, and the audience felt his transformational liveliness."

• Rare video of Bob Marley singing acoustic ‘Redemption Song’ months before his death is phenomenal
• Kingsley Ben-Adir and James Norton explain how he transformed into Bob Marley for One Love
• The Story of... 'One Love' by Bob Marley and the Wailers
• Bob Marley facts: Music icon's wife, children, parents and death explained

Once the 90-minute concert came to an end, however, Rita demanded that Bob bring the tour to a close, cancelling the remainder of the date in order for him to seek chemotherapy despite his protestations.

He visited various treatment clinics in Boston, New York, and Miami, all of which gave him just one month to live.

Marley relocated to Germany where he received cancer treatment, losing all of his beloved braids in the process.

Sadly the treatment didn't work - though it prolonged his life by six months - as Bob Marley tragically died on 11th May 1981 at the age of just 36.

Kingsley Ben-Adir and James Norton explain how he transformed into Bob Marley for One Love