Most of Bob Marley's early music was recorded with Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer, who together with Marley were the most prominent members of the Wailers. In 1972, the Wailers had their first hit outside Jamaica when Johnny Nash covered their song "Stir It Up", which became a UK hit. The 1973 album Catch a Fire was released worldwide, and sold well. It was followed by Burnin', which included the song "I Shot the Sheriff". Eric Clapton's cover of the song became a hit in 1974.

Bob Marley proceeded with Bob Marley and the Wailers, which included the Wailers Band and the I Threes. In 1975, he had his first own hit outside Jamaica with "No Woman, No Cry", from the Live! album. His subsequent albums, including Rastaman Vibration, Exodus, Kaya, Survival and the last album released during his lifetime, Uprising, were big international sellers. Between 1991 and 2007 Bob Marley and the Wailers sold in excess of 21 million records. These statistics did not begin to be collected until ten years after his death.^[1]

The Roots Reggae Library has created an overview of the music released by the Wailers prior to their contract with the Island Records label. This overview lists all the Wailers' songs known to have been released during that period, filled into six ska albums and 11 rocksteady albums.^[2]