Rastafari movement in the United States as well as his enormous posthumous success which only continues to grow, the Rastafari movement in the United States has multiplied considerably since Marley died in 1981. The influence of reggae music and its association with Rastafari reached a peak with the success of Rasta artists such as Marley, his wife Rita Marley, Peter Tosh, Dennis Brown, and many others. The reputation of reggae music in general and Bob Marley in particular only continues to gain new respect among younger generations of appreciative fans and the Rastafari message has, along with this popularity, found its place alongside some of the
Reggae genres and reggae. Many of ska's popular acts such as Desmond Dekker & the Aces, Bob Marley and the Wailers, the Skatalites, Toots & the Maytals, Byron Lee & the Dragonaires, and the Melodians, later became associated with reggae. In 1966, many ska musicians began to favour slower rhythms and beats, and the form began to evolve into rocksteady. A successor of ska and a precursor to reggae, rocksteady was performed by Jamaican vocal harmony groups such as the Gaylads, Toots & the Maytals, the Heptones and the Paragons. The "early reggae" era can be traced as starting in roughly 1968.