Chapter 01 — Today in music
On a day like today May 11
1981
Bob Marley dies at 36: the prophet of reggae becomes eternal
On May 11, 1981, Bob Marley died in Miami at 36, victim of a melanoma he refused to treat in time. In little more than a decade he had turned Jamaican reggae into a universal language of resistance and spirituality. His early death fixed him forever as a prophet: few figures in popular music remain so alive in every corner of the planet.
Bob Marley
1941
Eric Burdon is born, the working-class roar of The Animals
On May 11, 1941, Eric Burdon was born in Newcastle, owner of one of the blackest voices British rock ever produced. With The Animals he took 'The House of the Rising Sun' to number one worldwide in 1964 and showed the British Invasion that blues had to be sung from the gut. He later embraced psychedelia and funk with War, always true to his working-class instinct.
Eric Burdon
The Animals
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