Reggae has become the catch-all term for a rich and complex Jamaican musical heritage. Originating in the friction between indigenous calypso traditions and post-World War II sound-systems playing black American rhythm and blues, it developed through bluebeat, ska, and rock-steady styles to take its most familiar 1970s form, as exported to a global audience by Bob Marley before his tragic early death from cancer in 1981 — Ben Thompson