House where Bob Marley, Wailers lived honored with Blue Plaque

LONDON (AP) — The musician and songwriter Bob Marley (1945-1981) has been honored with an English Heritage Blue Plaque at the West London address where he and his band the Wailers lived in 1977.

The Jamaican-born reggae star joins John Lennon, Freddie Mercury, Mozart and other musicians and composers who have been honored with a rare blue plaque.

The plaque was unveiled Tuesday at 42 Oakley Street in the Chelsea neighborhood. Anecdotal reports from witnesses indicate the house was the band’s headquarters and Marley’s primary address.

Bob Marley live in concert in Dalymount Park, Dublin, Ireland, on July 6, 1980. Photo by Eddie Mallin, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license

It was unveiled by Rastafarian poet, writer and actor Benjamin Zephaniah, and broadcaster David Olusoga, who called Marley “a cultural icon who blazed a trail for other black artists.”

Bob Marley and the Wailers were recording the renowned “Exodus” album at the time they lived in the Oakley Street house.

Marley died in 1981 at the height of his fame.

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