Peter Tosh

Legalize it and don't criticize / Legalize and I will advertise it.

Written and performed by Peter Tosh, "Legalize It" remains the No. 1 marijuana song nearly 40 years after its release.

Born Winston McIntosh in Westmoreland on Oct. 19, 1944 and raised in Kingston's notorious Trenchtown slum, he dubbed himself Peter Tosh and joined Bob Marley and Bunny Livingston to form the Wailers in 1962. By the early '70s, they had become international superstars on the strength of the Wailers' first two albums, Catch a Fire and Burnin'.

But Tosh, who wrote "Get Up, Stand Up," wanted to be on his own and launched a solo career with Legalize It in 1976. Dubbed "Steppin Razor," Tosh followed with a series of albums - Equal Rights, Bush Doctor, Mystic Man, Wanted Dread and Alive, Mama Africa and No Nuclear War- that places him among the greatest reggae artists of all time. He's the subject of the documentary Steppin Razor: Red X.

Like Marley, Tosh was often photographed smoking spliffs, but he took it a step further, puffing on stage. "Ganja has everything to do with the upliftment of the mind," he said, "to motivate inspiration."

Tosh died during a senseless robbery in Jamaica on Sept. 11, 1987. He was 42 years old and had just won a Grammy Award for No Nuclear War.