Reggae Musical Relives Marley’s Greatest Hits???

Rock and pop back catalogues have been liberally raided over the past few years with Jailhouse Rock, Tonight’s the Night, We Will Rock You, Mamma Mia! and Our House resurrecting the greatest hits of Elvis Presley, Rod Stewart, Queen, Abba and Madness respectively. What we haven’t had yet is a reggae musical – but it may not be long in coming. In the latest interview in our The Producers series (See Today’s Features), Clear Channel’s David Ian reveals that he’s currently in negotiations with the Bob Marley Estate to do a musical based on the late Jamaican singer-songwriter’s hits, slated for 2006. Marley, a committed Rastafarian, died in 1981 after a battle with cancer during which he refused medical treatment because of his religious beliefs. From the early 1960s, he and his band The Wailers released a steady stream of hits, including “I Shot the Sheriff”, “No Woman No Cry”, “Jamming”, “Buffalo Soldier”, “One Love”, “Stir It Up” and “Waiting in Vain”. The 1992 posthumous retrospective album, Songs of Freedom, containing 78 songs, has helped to propel Marley into the league of one of the largest-selling recording artists of all time. His legacy continues to live on through the modern band, The Melody Makers, which is fronted by his London-based son, Ziggy Marley.

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