When Bob Marley released “No Woman, No Cry”, he credited the songwriting not to himself, but to Vincent Ford, a close friend who ran a soup kitchen in Trenchtown, the Kingston neighborhood where Marley grew up.
Marley wanted to ensure that Ford would receive royalties from the song, which would help fund his soup kitchen that fed the poor in Trenchtown. This is how far Marley went to help his friend. Ford himself later said the credit was an act of kindness from Marley.
Because “No Woman, No Cry” became one of Marley’s most successful and enduring hits, Ford received ongoing royalty payments for decades — keeping the kitchen running and helping the community long after Marley’s passing.