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Jon Tattrie unearths Nova Scotia's secret Bob Marley connection

Jon Tattrie talks about his 'epic quest' to hunt down the truth about Bob Marley's connection to Sydney, N.S.
Jon Tattrie explores the Nova Scotia connection to Bob Marley's Redemption Song. (Pottersfield Press, Gary Merrin/KEYSTONE/GETTY IMAGES)

Originally published on March 3, 2017

Seven years ago, Jon Tattrie was in the midst of a deep "Wiki bender" when he stumbled on an unsubstantiated connection between Nova Scotia and Bob Marley's hit, Redemption Song.

"I found this claim that it had been based on a speech that Marcus Garvey gave in Sydney, N.S., in 1937," he says. 

What followed was an "epic quest" to try to track down the truth. Tattrie's latest book, Redemption Songs: How Bob Marley's Nova Scotia Song Lights the Way Past Racism, weaves both Marley and Garvey's connection to the Maritime province.  


Web extra: Listen to an example of a Garvey speech below:

— Produced by Dawna Dingwall