Bob Marley’s ‘Legend’ notches record 500th week on US chart

Image: AFP

Bob Marley and the Wailers’ “Legend,” the posthumous greatest hits collection that helped cement the reggae icon’s legacy, has notched a landmark 500th week on the US chart.

The compilation first released in 1984 stood at number 170 on the latest Billboard 200 chart of album sales in the week through December 14, tracking service Nielsen Music said after releasing its full list.

“Legend” cements its place as spending the second most number of non-consecutive weeks on the benchmark US album chart. It is still well below the record-holder: Pink Floyd’s “The Dark Side of the Moon,” which has spent 934 weeks on the list since 1973 — and was number 196 on the latest chart.

“Legend,” released three years after Marley’s death from cancer at age 36, brings together the most recognizable songs of the Jamaican artist’s career, including “Get Up, Stand Up,” “No Woman, No Cry” and “Redemption Song.”

Like many greatest-hits collections, “Legend” has faced criticism among Marley’s devoted fans who say it focuses only on anthemic hits without allowing the more nuanced look at the evolution of his Rastafarian faith and political views as heard on his albums.

But “Legend” indisputably has brought Marley to generations too young to have known him when he was alive. “Legend” has been so omnipresent in US dormitories that satirical newspaper The Onion in 2002 joked that university administrators were debating a nationwide ban.

“Legend” has sold more than 15 million copies in the United States but only entered the top 10 on the chart in 2014 following an online sale.

In Britain, “Legend” notched 12 weeks at number one and has spent a total of 803 weeks in the Top 100, narrowly below greatest hits collections by Abba and Queen. AB

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