Bob Marley wanted to live in Ethiopia. He said so many times. He never said he wanted to be buried there. At the time Bob died in 1981, Ethiopia was ruled by Marxist-Lenninist dictator Mengistu who had dethroned Emperor Haile Selassie (whom Bob called "The Almighty") and also removed the imperial lion from the Ethiopian flag. This was not the Ethiopia Bob wanted to live in, much less be buried in...

It's a sign of the man's genuine cool that no one knew his life was at risk. As he told me, "Growing up in the ghetto, you have to be tough," and they didn't call Bob the Tuff Gong for nothing. So a little matter of a brush with the British bobbies (cops) very late one freezing night [in 1977] didn't phase him...

Posters of Bob Marley superimposed on the map of Africa were ubiquitous in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, during the February celebrations of the 60th anniversary of his birth. Other photos and items collected by Roger Steffens.