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SOUTH FLORIDA – Following Bob Marley’s show-stealing performance at Madison Square Garden as opening act for The Commodores in September, 1980, Copeland Forbes heard businessman Percy Sutton make a bold prediction.
“He said, ‘He’s ready for the big time. Next year, we’re putting him on the road with Stevie Wonder’,” Forbes recalled.
Sutton was one of the most influential figures in black America and owner of WBLS FM, arguably the biggest black-owned radio station in the United States.
Marley, who died on May 11, 1981 at age 36, would have turned 81 on February 6. He was on his most ambitious tour of the US. He was promoting his Uprising album and the song, Could You Be Loved.
But two days after his triumphant show, he collapsed while jogging in Central Park. He was diagnosed with terminal cancer. This resulted in a cancelation of the tour one week later.
Forbes told South Florida Caribbean News that touring with Stevie Wonder would have been massive for Marley and his band, The Wailers.
“That would have been a great step. He wanted badly to reach the black audience so it would have helped him and reggae cross over because Stevie was hot,” said Forbes.
Wonder Dream Concert
Marley and Wonder first met in Jamaica in October, 1975 when the American singer-songwriter headlined the Wonder Dream Concert in Kingston at the National Stadium.
That show raised funds for the Jamaica Institute of the Blind. On it, Marley and Wonder jammed to I Shot The Sheriff and Superstition, which were huge hits for them, respectively.
Four years later, they performed The Wailers’ Get Up, Stand Up together on the Black Music Association at the Sheraton Philadelphia.
Stevie Wonder’s album Hotter Than July came out on September 29, 1980. This was eight days after Marley’s collapse.
It contains the Marley-inspired song, Master Blaster (Jammin’), which topped Billboard Magazine’s R&B chart for several weeks.
Bob Marley did not have a big African American fan base while he was alive. However, many modern artists now appreciate his music. These artists include Tracy Chapman, Wyclef Jean, and Lauryn Hill.
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