Ghetto Youth’s International, organizers of the annual Bob Marley concert Smile Jamaica, have announced that the 2010 staging of the celebration of the King of Reggae’s birth would have to be called off, due to numerous circumstances.Smile Jamaica spokesperson Norman Bryan, said yesterday that while the organisation was looking forward to staging the concert after “there are some extenuating circumstances that just cannot be ignored, and there’s no way we could proceed with the concert bearing them in mind.”
He added that the Marley family will still be celebrating Bob’s birthday and honouring his legacy in private.
Bryan also said that the Ghetto Youth’s International would be redoubling its efforts to make a 2011 staging possible.
“Ghetto Youths International will continue spreading the message of the Hon. Robert Nesta Marley, and we will be definitely putting our heads together to make 2011 the year Smile Jamaica returns from its hiatus.”
Smile Jamaica saw its historic birth in December of 1976, when it was held at the National Heroes Park in Kingston. The event took place a mere two days after gunmen almost ended Bob Marley’s life, and he was recuperating in the Blue Mountains. It was there that Marley magic reigned supreme yet again, as an injured Bob agreed to perform one song for the 80,000-strong throng of patrons. That one song turned into a magical 90 minute performance with Marley and the Wailers.
