On this day in 1981: Jamaican singer-songwriter Bob Marley died at the age of 36. In July 1977, Marley was found to have a type of malignant melanoma under the nail of a toe, Marley’s health deteriorated as the cancer had spread throughout his body. Marley had the UK hit 1981 single ‘No Woman No Cry’, plus over ten other UK Top 40 singles. In 1990, February 6th was proclaimed a national holiday in Jamaica to commemorate his birth. The compilation album, Legend, released in 1984, is the best-selling reggae album ever with sales of more than 20 million copies. Time magazine chose Bob Marley & The Wailers’ Exodus as the greatest album of the 20th century.

On this day in 1985: Bruce Springsteen and a small group of friends went out for a boy’s night out in Lake Oswego, Oregon, two nights before Bruce’s wedding to Julianne Phillips. Drinking in the Gemini pub, Springsteen sang a number of songs, karaoke-style, to his own records in the jukebox.

Also on this day in 1985: UK producer and keyboard player Paul Hardcastle was at #1 on the UK singles chart with ’19’. The title referred to the average age of American soldiers in the Vietnam War and features dialogue by television narrator Peter Thomas, and a strong anti-war message.