The Fascinating Conspiracy Theory About Bob Marley's Death

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(Caspiax/Wikimedia Commons)

On May 11, 1981, reggae's spiritual savior and biggest hit-maker, Bob Marley, passed away at what is now the University of Miami Hospital at the too-young age of 36. His cause of death was listed as metastatic melanoma, but according to the more conspiracy-minded members of the music community, there was more to Marley's cancer than meets the eye. These people believe that the CIA wanted Marley dead, so they did the only thing that made sense: They gave him cancer through his shoes. The strange, multi-tentacled theory has long been debunked, but that hasn't stopped musicians and fans from spreading it like wildfire.

The CIA Targeted Bob Marley

Although the actual cause of Marley's death is widely accepted, conspiracy theories about the CIA's involvement in his final days have been bubbling under the surface for years. In 2017, a conspiracy theory site claimed that a retired CIA officer named Bill Oxley confessed on his deathbed that he assassinated numerous political activists, journalists, artists, and musicians who the CIA thought "represented a threat to the interests of the United States" using unconventional methods like poison, induced heart attacks, and cancer. Supposedly, Oxley was picked to assassinate Marley.