Bob Marley’s 25 greatest songs, ranked

Bob Marley’s life finally hits the big screen this week in the form of Bob Marley: One Love. In his 36 years, Marley lived a life so rich and tumultuous, not all of it can be distilled into a biopic. Similarly, he produced more great music than could be contained on Legend, the posthumous 1984 compilation that helped cement his image as a Rastafarian mystic and reggae outlaw.

One of the best greatest hits albums ever assembled, Legend painted a vivid, colorful portrait but it wasn’t complete: it deliberately favored his lighter later material, leaving the tougher work of the Wailers to languish on LPs and CDs. Those early records, when the Wailers featured Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer, are crucial to understanding the impact and legacy of Marley. They’re featured here, along with selections from Legend, on a list of 25 essentials that tell Bob Marley’s story as thoroughly as One Love itself.

1. “Redemption Song” (1980)

Bob Marley spent over a year crafting “Redemption Song,” the final song on the final album he released during his lifetime. The prolonged labor isn’t evident within the tune itself, even though it carries precisely crafted allusions, specifically to the work of Jamaican activist Marcus Garvey. In Marley’s hands, supported by no more than an acoustic guitar, “Redemption Song” serves as an elegiac summation of his art and life, a testament to how he sought deliverance within the music he made.