‘This collection of timeless photographs gives us an up close inside look at this uniquely complex man and brilliant iconic artist who forever changed the world. One love…’ – Lenny Kravitz
Rebel Music is a tribute to one of the greatest legends in world music, Bob Marley. In 1975, Kate Simon first photographed Bob Marley and the Wailers at the Lyceum in London, where the now-legendary live performance of ‘No Woman No Cry’ was recorded. They then collaborated throughout the Seventies, with Simon shooting some of the most intimate, enduring and emblematic images ever taken of Marley, including his iconic Kaya album cover.
Simon captured it all: portraits of the reggae greats of the Seventies, such as Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh; the Exodus Tour, on the road with Bob Marley and The Wailers as they performed across Europe; and the One Love Peace Concert, where Bob famously united Jamaica’s opposing political leaders. Ultimately, in 1981, Simon would ride with the funeral cortege from Kingston to St Ann and Bob Marley’s final resting place.
Rebel Music contains over 400 photographs from Simon’s archives, many published here for the first time. Introduced by Patti Smith, with a foreword by Lenny Kravitz and afterword by Keith Richards, a cast of 24 contributors join Simon in sharing the stories behind the images, including ex-Wailers guitarist Junior Marvin and bass player and band leader Aston ‘Family Man’ Barrett; musicians such as Junior Delgado, Steve Jordan, Paul Simonon and Bruce Springsteen; filmmaker Don Letts and producer Danny Sims; and Island Records founder, Chris Blackwell.
Kate Simon is an iconic photographer who has worked with giants such as Andy Warhol, Iggy Pop, Patti Smith, Bob Marley, and Robert Mapplethorpe, to name just a few. Kate has work in the permanent collections of The Museum of Modern Art, the National Portrait Gallery at the Smithsonian, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, The Bob Marley Museum, and the Andy Warhol Museum. Kate has had exhibitions throughout her career beginning in 1981 with New York/New Wave at P.S. 1 all the way through her one-person show in honor of William S. Burroughs’ centennial at ShowStudio in 2014. Her exhibition Chaos and Cosmos at Fort Works Art in 2019 was featured in Rolling Stone Magazine. In 2004, Simon published a limited-edition book of her photographs of Bob Marley and Jamaica titled: Rebel Music, with Genesis Publications. Now, on the eve of the 50th anniversary of Marley’s first Island Records release, Catch a Fire, Rebel Music is to be published by Genesis in a new bookstore edition. Simon’s photography has appeared on countless book jackets, record covers and in publications around the world. She has created numerous timeless photographs that define the subject and their part in modern popular culture.
Legendary punk poetess
Patti Smith had been writing for
Creem magazine since 1971 and had several books of poetry published when she found international fame with her acclaimed album
Horses in 1975. The punk movement that took so much inspiration from
Horses rarely conjured music of such literacy and intelligence. In 2007, Patti was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and in 2022, Patti was awarded the Légion d’honneur by the French Ministry of Culture, France’s highest accolade. In 2010, she released her bestselling memoir,
Just Kids, chronicling her moving relationship with Robert Mapplethorpe, and the beautiful follow up, M Train. Patti is still writing and performing with the same unerring eye for ‘truth and beauty’ today.
In a career of more than 40 years,
Lenny Kravitz has continued to be one of the most exciting performers in music. His genre-defying approach to music – fused by everything, from John Lennon to Bob Marley – has continued to capture the soul of millions of fans across the world, and as a result, Kravitz has sold over 50 million albums worldwide. From 1999 to 2002, he won the Grammy Award for ‘Best Male Rock Vocal Performance’ every year, breaking the record for most consecutive wins in one category by a male artist. In 2011, Kravitz was honoured with one of the highest cultural titles in France. He was made an Officer of Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by French cultural minister, Frederic Mitterrand, in Paris. In 2018, Kravitz released his eleventh studio album
Raise Vibration, and soon after confirmed he is working on a follow-up. In 2022, he published
Lenny Kravitz: The Formative Years, 1989-1993, a signed limited edition book with Genesis Publications.
Over a 60-year career,
Keith Richards has been the heart, soul, driving force and the foundation of The Rolling Stones as their co-founder and guitarist. The story of how he met his songwriting partner has been told many times in many ways – 1961, a train platform in Dartford where Mick Jagger stood, mail-order R&B albums in hand, the beginning of a friendship and a life-long collaboration. Simply said, as a guitarist Keith is known as one of the best, his influence on rock and pop music undeniable. Alongside his work for The Stones, he is celebrated for his work as a record producer, his collaborations, songwriting and solo work. He has consistently paid tribute to the musicians and artists that he admires, including Bob Marley. In 2010, he penned his critically acclaimed autobiography,
Life, and continues to tour with The Stones.
