During their 14-month London sojourn Bob Marley and the Wailers recorded numerous songs, which Chris Blackwell divided into two albums, Exodus and its follow-up, Kaya, released in 1978. Shortly thereafter, he boarded a private jet for Nassau, Bahamas where he and his entourage spent Christmas before flying to London in early 1977. Two days after the ambush at his home, following much deliberation, his arm still bandaged, Marley performed a 90-minute set at the Smile Jamaica concert before a crowd estimated at 70,000. Bob's participation in the Smile Jamaica concert, (wrongly) perceived by some as an endorsement of the incumbent party, has long been speculated as the catalyst for the shooting. Upon Marley's release from Kingston's University Hospital, he retreated to Strawberry Hill, a compound nestled high in the hills above the city, owned by Island Records founder Chris Blackwell. Marley's friend Lewis Simpson was shot in the stomach and his manager Don Taylor took five bullets, including one close to his spine. A bullet grazed Marley's chest and penetrated his arm his wife Rita was struck, a bullet lodged between her scalp and her skull. Two days before the concert, as Marley took a break from rehearsals and was eating a grapefruit in his kitchen, three gunmen invaded his Kingston home and fired numerous rounds. Following the announcement of the concert date, Prime Minister Michael Manley called for elections to be held shortly thereafter, which somewhat tainted the event with a partisan affiliation. The Smile Jamaica concert, so named for Marley's pacifying single released in November, would be held on Dec. 5.

In 1976 amidst escalating political violence in Jamaica, Marley, by now internationally recognized, agreed to headline a concert in Kingston to help cool things down until the pending election.

Upon Exodus' release, it was initially criticized as too polished but later regarded as visionary in taking reggae to a wider audience. What's undeniable, though, is that a dramatic set of circumstances led to the recording of Exodus and helped shape a more complex aural identity for Marley and his extraordinary band, The Wailers. Whether any one album (even one as significant as Exodus is within Marley's esteemed catalog) can justifiably merit such a sweeping and nearly incalculable designation is a topic for vigorous debate. In 1999, Time magazine declared Bob Marley's Exodus (Island Records), released on June 3, 1977, the best album of the 20th Century.

Exodus bob marley album