Vincent Ford, the songwriter credited with composing the Bob Marley reggae classic No Woman, No Cry has died in Jamaica. He was 68.

Ford lost both his legs to diabetes and died in hospital from complications caused by the disease, said a spokesman for the Bob Marley Foundation.

His smash hit appeared on Marley’s 1974 Natty Dread album.

It was inspired by the Trench Town ghetto in Kingston where both men lived in the 1960s.

Some claim Marley wrote it himself but gave Ford the credit to help his friend support himself with the royalties.

Ford is also credited with three songs on Marley’s 1976 album Rastaman Vibration.

Marley remains the most widely known and revered performer of reggae music, and is credited for helping spread Jamaican music to the worldwide audience.

He died of cancer in Miami in 1981, aged 36.   *source: BBC News

I gotta say, that if Bob did write that jam and still credited his buddy with it, that’s a pretty damn nice thing to do. Hooking him up with royalties for the rest of his life. If not, it’s too bad that the rumor got started and continues. Guess we’ll never really know.

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