Bob Marley’s new live set ‘Roots Rock Reggae’ debuts on multiple sales charts in the U.K. more than four decades after his passing. Jamaican reggae singer-songwriter Bob Marley (1945 – 1981), 27th November 1979. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
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More than 40 years after his passing, Bob Marley stands alone in the minds of millions as the most successful reggae musician of all time. The Jamaican superstar helped popularize the genre decades ago, introducing listeners far beyond his home country’s shores to the style.
Legend, a compilation released with the Wailers, is one of the most successful musical projects of all time and one of only a handful of titles that never seems to disappear from the charts in nations like the United States and United Kingdom. For many Marley fans, Legend may be enough to keep them satisfied, but the late artist’s estate occasionally shares previously unreleased tunes or even entire collections.
One such offering, Roots Rock Reggae – Live at the Hammersmith Odeon with The Wailers, was released in early August. The live project earns Marley another bestseller in the U.K. this week as it launches on multiple rankings.
Bob Marley’s New Collection Debuts on Two Sales Charts
Roots Rock Reggae debuts on two purchase-focused charts in the U.K. The live collection opens at No. 38 on the Official Physical Albums chart and a few spaces lower, at No. 42, on the Official Albums Sales ranking.
The former focuses specifically on purchases of albums on physical formats, such as CD, cassette and vinyl, which have all grown in popularity in the past decade. The bigger sales tally also includes digital downloads, and Roots Rock Reggae narrowly misses the top 40 on that busier list.
Bob Marley Scores Another Albums Sales Chart Hit
Roots Rock Reggae adds another win to Marley’s relatively small number of appearances on the Official Albums Sales chart, where it lands somewhere in the middle of his catalog in terms of peak position. Legend has climbed as high as No. 4 on the ranking, while Exodus reached No. 29.
(MANDATORY CREDIT Watal Asanuma/Shinko Music/Getty Images) Bob Marley, portrait at a hotel in London, 2nd February 1978. (Photo by Watal Asanuma/Shinko Music/Getty Images)
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Roots Rock Reggae does outperform several other Marley favorites as it arrives. Catch a Fire, Kaya and another version of Legend peaked at Nos. 56, 59 and 61, respectively.
Bob Marley Returns to the Physical Albums Chart
Marley has enjoyed more success on the Official Physical Albums chart, where Roots Rock Reggae becomes his sixteenth title to appear. About half of those releases have climbed into the top 40, and the new live collection joins that group immediately by opening at No. 38.
Only Two Years Since Bob Marley’s Last Debut
It has only been about two years since Marley last collected a new hit on either of the sales rankings where Roots Rock Reggae debuts. Different versions of the same project can sometimes chart separately in the U.K. when a title is altered, new material is added or another substantial change differentiates one edition from another.
That explains why Legend has appeared in more than one form over the years. One version first reached the Official Physical Albums chart in 1994 and later the Official Albums Sales tally, while a second edition hopped onto the rankings in June 2024.
Bob Marley’s Legend Remains a Multi-Chart Win in the U.K.
As Roots Rock Reggae launches on two sales lists, Legend continues to perform well across a much wider collection of U.K. charts. The compilation currently appears on the Official Albums, Official Albums Streaming, Official Albums Sales, Official Album Downloads and Official Physical Albums lists this week.
Legend declines on all five of those rosters, but the win is that it appears at all. The compilation has spent hundreds of weeks on each of those rankings, including more than 1,200 frames on the main Official Albums chart, where it is one of the most popular albums of all time.
Bob Marley’s Hammersmith Odeon Performances Now Featured on an Album
VOORBURG, NETHERLANDS: Bob Marley performs live on stage with the Wailers in Voorburg, Holland in 1976 (Photo by Gijsbert Hanekroot/Redferns)
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Roots Rock Reggae captures Marley and his band during a June 1976 residency at the famed London venue the Hammersmith Odeon. At the time, the musicians were touring behind the album Rastaman Vibration, and Marley’s international popularity has recently exploded thanks to hits like “No Woman, No Cry.”
The previously unreleased performances – the collection uses takes recorded across several dates – were issued as both a double CD and double vinyl collection.
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