62: In 1962, at the age of 17, Bob released his first single, "Judge Not," on the Beverley's label.
61: Bob's widow, Rita Marley, will turn 61 on July 25 of this year.
60: To celebrate Bob's 60th birthday, Tuff Gong Books in 2005 released "60 Visions: A Book of Prophecy by Bob Marley." The book includes Bob's wise observations of life, and you can buy a copy for only $12.99 at the BobMarley.com marketplace here.
59: British native Chris Blackwell turned an initial investment of $1,000 into the Island Records label in 1959. He would eventually sign Bob Marley and bring his music from Jamaica to the rest of the world.
58: Bob's 1979 album Babylon By Bus reached No. 58 on the Billboard Black Albums chart.
57: Bob's son, Ziggy Marley, and his band, the Melody Makers, hit No. 57 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles and Tracks chart with the 1989 song "Look Who's Dancing."
56: Bob was given the property at 56 Hope Road in Kingston by Blackwell and turned it into his headquarters. It is now the home of the Bob Marley Museum.
55: The Bob Marley greatest-hits album Legend, which was released in 1984 and has sold over 10 million copies, climbed to No. 55 on the Billboard 200.
54: Reggae pioneer Toots Hibbert of Toots and the Maytals, of whom Ziggy Marley has said, "Toots is like a father to me," released the hit single, "54-46 Was My Number," after being released from a two-year prison stint in 1968.
53: The "One Love/People Get Ready" track on Legend is 2 minutes, 53 seconds long.
52: Bob's mother, Cedella Marley Booker, was 52 years old in 1978 when Bob played his legendary One Love Peace Concert.
51: On the anniversary of Bob's 51st birthday, Rita Marley and Universal Studios Florida announced plans to build a new venue called "Bob Marley--A Tribute To Freedom,"patterned after his actual house in Jamaica.
50: In 1950, Bob's father, Norval, sent for Bob to come to Kingston, where Norval promised to educate his son, according to Steffens. Bob was instead sent to live with an elderly woman and never saw his father again.
49: The 2005 Bob Marley release Africa Unite: The Singles Collection reached No. 49 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.
48: According to Steffens, in 1948, at the age of 3, Bob was first believed to have psychic powers. "He read the hands of several people in the area, revealing to them surprisingly intimate knowledge of their lives," Steffens wrote.
47: On October 8, 1979, Bob's album Survival was released and a 47-date tour kicked off at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem.
46: Bob's concept album Exodus, which in 1999 was named by Time Magazine as "the most important album of the 20th century," checks in at just over 46 minutes.
45: On Feb. 6, 1945 at 2:30 in the morning in Nine Miles, St. Ann Parish, Jamaica, 19-year-old Cedella Malcolm gave birth to her son, Robert Nesta Marley.
44: Bob's 1975 album Natty Dread peaked at No. 44 on Billboard's Black Albums chart.
43: Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers' 1989 album One Bright Day reached No. 43 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.
42: A double CD compilation of Bob's music entitled 42 Great Performances was released in 2002.
41: Bob's 1973 album Burnin' peaked at No. 41 on Billboard's Black Albums chart.
40: Bob's daughter Cedella will celebrate her 40th birthday on Aug. 23 of this year.
39: In 1988, Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers' "Tomorrow People" peaked at No. 39 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
38: Ziggy Marley is 38 years old.
37: Blackwell was born on June 22, 1937.
36: Bob was 36 years old when he passed away on May 11, 1981.
35: "Nana Rita," as Rita Marley is known in Africa, recently adopted 35 children in Ethiopia.
34: Bob's son, Stephen, is 34 years old.
33: Bob was 33 years old in 1978 when he played the famous "One Love Peace Concert" in Jamaica.
32: Bob's 32nd year, 1977, was a prolific one. He recorded enough music for two albums, Exodus and Kaya, and played one of his most famous gigs, the June concert at the Rainbow Theatre in London that was captured on film and has been featured in clips on BobMarley.com. You can find a video of the classic song, "Lively Up Yourself," from the Rainbow show right here: http://www.bobmarley.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070108&content_id=a1&vkey=news&fext=.jsp
31: Bob's son, Julian, is 31 years old.
30: Bob's son, Ky-Mani, is 30 years old.
29: In 1974, when Bob was 29 years old, he replaced Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer with backup singers Marcia Griffiths, Judy Mowatt and Rita Marley and the "I-Threes" were born.
28: Bob's son, Damian, a.k.a. "Junior Gong," is 28 years old.
27: In 1972, at the age of 27, Blackwell gave Bob and fellow Wailers Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer the money (8,000 pounds) to record the Catch a Fire album, which they finished in less than a month.
26: Only 26 copies of Bob's rarest song, "Selassie Is The Chapel," were pressed.
25: Bob was 25 years old in 1970 when he and the Wailers released their first album, Soul Rebels, which also was the band's first full-length collaboration with producer Lee "Scratch" Perry.
24: You can get a vintage Bob Marley Tuff Gong T-shirt for $24.99 right here in the BobMarley.com marketplace:
23: Bob played his final concert on Sept. 23, 1980, at the Stanley Theater in Pittsburgh, Pa. His final song was "Is This Love?"
22: On April 22, 1978, the 12th anniversary of Rastafarian deity Haile Selassie I's visit to Jamaica, Bob closed a festival concert in front of 100,000 people at the National Stadium. At the end of the show, Bob called prime minister Michael Manley and his chief political rival, Edward Seaga, on stage and made them shake hands. The gesture earned Bob the United Nations' Peace Medal.
21: On May 21, 1981, 10 days after Bob's death, a state funeral was held, with newly elected Jamaican prime minister Seaga delivering Bob's eulogy.
20: Bob was 20 years old in 1965 when the first recordings were made of the songs "One Love," "Rude Boy," "I'm Still Waiting," "I'm Gonna Put It On," and "Cry to Me."
19: On Jan. 19, 1994, Bob was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.
18: In 1963, when Bob was 18 years old, the Wailers auditioned for and were accepted by renowned Jamaican producer Clement "Sir Coxson" Dodd of Studio One. They recorded the eventual No. 1 hit, "Simmer Down," which sold over 80,000 copies.
17: Bob's daughter Stephanie's birthday is Aug. 17. She shares the birthday with Jamaica's first national hero and one of Bob's biggest inspirations, Marcus Garvey.
16: For $16.99, take your pick of Bob Marley Youth T-shirts in the BobMarley.com marketplace. Choose between the "Legend" and "Face" designs right here.
15: Bob hit 15 countries in his last and most extensive tour for the Uprising album. From May to September 1980, Bob played in Switzerland, Germany, France, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales and the United States.
14: Bob took a 14-month exile from Jamaica after the 1976 attempt on his life and his subsequent performance in the Dec. 5 Smile Jamaica concert two days after the shooting.
13: In 2001, Bob garnered 13.64 percent of the vote in BBC News Online's "Greatest Lyricists of All Time" poll, finishing behind only Bob Dylan and John Lennon.
12: Bob's good friend Allan "Skill" Cole, a soccer star in Jamaica, brought 12 of the only 26 pressed copies of Bob's rarest song, "Selassie is the Chapel," to Ethiopia.
11: Bob was ranked No. 11 in Rolling Stone magazine's "50 Greatest Artists of All Time" issue. Fugees frontman Wyclef Jean wrote the article about Bob.
10: When Bob took a trip to Brazil in 1970, he played in a pickup soccer game in the jersey of his favorite Brazilian player, Santos, who wore No. 10.
9: Nine Mile, St. Ann Parish, is the rural birthplace of Bob Marley and also the site of his burial.
8: Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers have released eight albums.
7: Seaga issued seven Jamaican national postage stamps in Bob's honor after his death.
6: Here we are celebrating another Bob Marley Day, which honors the birthday of Bob every Feb. 6 throughout the world.
5: Stephen Marley has won five Grammy awards, more than any reggae artist in history.
4: Bob had four final words to his son Ziggy before he passed: "Money can't buy life."
3: Two of Bob's best songs feature the number three in the titles: "Three Little Birds" and "Rebel Music (3 O'Clock Roadblock)"
2: Bob's son, Rohan, wore No. 2 on his jersey when he played linebacker for the University of Miami Hurricanes in the 1990s.
1: One of Bob's most famous and beloved songs is "One Love," which was awarded "Song of the Millennium" by the BBC and has resonated with many cultures as a philosophy for life. As Bob once said, "Unity is the world's key, and racial harmony. Until the white man stops calling himself white and the black man stops calling himself black, we will not see it. All the people on earth are just one family."
Read Christopher John Farley's article about "One Love" here.
Happy Birthday, Bob, and One Love.