Its international success cemented Marley's growing political importance in Jamaica, where his firm Rastafarian stance had found a strong resonance with the ghetto youth. By way of thanking the people of Jamaica, Marley decided on a free concert, to be held at Kingston's National Heroes Park on December 5, 1976. The idea was to emphasise the need for peace in the slums of the city, where warring factions had brought turmoil and murder.

Just after the concert was announced, the government called an election for December 20. The campaign was a signal for renewed ghetto war and, on the eve of the concert, gunmen broke into Marley's house and shot him.

In the confusion the would-be assassins only wounded Marley, who was hastily taken to an safe haven in the hills surrounding Kingston. For a day he deliberated playing the concert and then, on December 5, he come on stage and played a brief set in defiance of the gunmen.

It was to be Marley's last appearance in Jamaica for nearly eighteen months. Immediately after the show he left the country and, during early 1977, lived in London where he recorded his next album, "Exodus".

Released in the summer of that year, "Exodus" properly established the band's international status. The album remained on the UK charts for 56 straight weeks, and its three singles - "Exodus", "Waiting In Vain" and "Jammin'" - were all massive sellers. The band also played a week of concerts at London's Rainbow Theatr; their last dates in the city during the seventies.

In 1978 the band capitalised on their chart success with "Kaya", an album which hit number four in the UK the week after the release. That album saw Marley in a different mood; a collection of love songs and, of course, homages to the power of ganja. The album also provided two chart singles, "Satisfy My Soul" and the beautiful "Is This Love".

There were three more events in 1978, all of which were of extraordinary significance to Marley. In April he returned to Jamaica to play the One Love Peace Concert in front of the Prime Minister Michael Manley and the Leader of the Opposition Edward Seaga.

He was then invited to the United Nations in New York to receive the organisation's Medal of Peace. At the end of the year Bob also visited Africa for the first time, going initially to Kenya and then on to Ethiopia, spriritual home of Rastafari.

The band had earlier toured Europe and America, a series of shows that provided a second live album, "Babylon By Bus". The Wailers also broke new ground by playing in Australia, Japan and New Zealand: truly international style reggae.