Rita Marley

All Music Guide:

Best known as Bob Marley's wife, Rita Marley was also a solo artist in her own right both before and after her marriage, and served as the caretaker of her husband's legacy following his premature death in 1981. Born Alpharita Anderson in Cuba, she grew up largely in the Trenchtown section of Kingston, and first sang with a female ska trio called the Soulettes. The Soulettes began recording for Clement "Coxsone" Dodd's Studio One label in 1964, and Dodd asked his emerging young star Bob Marley to mentor them; Marley and Anderson fell in love and married in 1966. Rita recorded with two different Soulettes lineups in the mid-'60s, cut a few hit solo singles of her own (including "Pied Piper"), and backed the Wailers on some of their '60s recordings. When Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer left the Wailers in 1974, Rita helped organize the I-Threes, a female vocal trio consisting of herself, Marcia Griffiths, and Judy Mowatt. The I-Threes backed Bob Marley in the studio and on tour for the remainder of his career, up until his death from melanoma in 1981. During that time, both Marleys narrowly escaped an assassination attempt in 1976, in which one bullet grazed Rita's head and another hit Bob's arm.

In 1981, as Bob succumbed to cancer, Rita recorded the solo album Who Feels It Knows It. A spiritual, life-affirming statement, the album featured a lighthearted hit single in "One Draw," a blatantly pro-marijuana lesson in proper smoking technique. Banned by the BBC, "One Draw" became the first reggae single to top Billboard's disco singles chart, which was used to track dance-club play at the time. Another single, "Play Play," had a measure of success in the U.K. However, Marley found it difficult to pursue a full-time recording career; she spent much of the '80s handling the assorted legal and business interests associated with her husband's name and estate, and also mentored her children's musical venture, Ziggy Marley & the Melody Makers. She finally returned to solo recording with 1988's Harambe (Working Together for Freedom), and followed it in 1991 with We Must Carry On, which garnered a Grammy nomination. Both albums continued her knack for danceable, rootsy reggae with spiritual messages and a definite sense of fun. Marley finally returned with a new album, Rita Marley Sings Bob Marley...and Friends, in 2003.

Wikipedia:

Alpharita Constantia Anderson (born 25 July 1946), better known as Rita Marley, and sometimes called "Nana Rita", is the widow of reggae legend/musician Bob Marley, and a member of the trio the I Threes, Bob Marley's backup singers.

Biography

Rita was born July 25, 1946 in Santiago de Cuba to Leroy Anderson and Cynthia "Beda" Jarrett. She grew up in the upper level of Beachwood Avenue, located in Kingston, Jamaica. In her book No Woman, No Cry: My Life with Bob Marley Rita describes how she was raised by her Aunt Viola on Greenwich Park Road. Bob was from the lower level of Trenchtown.

In the mid 1960s, Rita met Bob after meeting Peter Tosh. After it was learned that she was a singer, she was asked to audition for the Soulettes, later known as the I Threes. The group included Rita, her cousin Constantine "Dream" Walker, and Marlene "Precious" Giffordwas. Bob became the group's mentor and manager and through working together, he and Rita fell in love.

The two married 10 February 1966. However, the reason for their marriage was said to have been a way to make it easier for Rita to immigrate to the US should Bob have decided to live in the US following a visit with his mother in Delaware. Raised Christian, she became involved in the Rastafari Movement prior to witnessing stigmata during Haile Selassie's visit to Jamaica on 21 April 1966. She remains, however, an active member of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.

After Marley's death, she recorded a few albums under her name with some success in the United Kingdom.

In 1986, Rita made the decision to convert Bob Marley's home into the Bob Marley Museum. She is also the Founder and Chairperson of the Robert Marley Foundation, Bob Marley Trust, and the Bob Marley Group of Companies. She founded the Rita Marley Foundation in 2000. She has also adopted 35 children in Ethiopia and has assisted over 200 children in Konkonuru Methodist School in Ghana and made a commitment to positively impact their lives.

Children

Rita has six children, three from other relationships and three with Bob. Bob adopted Rita's two children as his own and they have the Marley name. Bob has 13 children in total: the two of Rita's that he adopted, three born to Rita, and the remaining eight with separate women. Rita's children are, in order of birth:

Recent/Current

Rita appears in the song "Mary Jane Shoes" on Fergie's multi-platinum 2006 album The Dutchess. Rita performed background vocals to the song "Raikoum" by Khaled in his album Liberté. She also performed background vocals for the song Ouelli El Darek by Khaled in his album Sahra.

Rita Marley Foundation

In 2000, Rita Marley founded the Rita Marley Foundation. It is a non-governmental, not-for-profit, non-partisan organization that works to alleviate poverty and hunger in developing countries. It specifically targets elderly and youth.

It has given out a number of scholarships to music students in Ghana's Berklee College of Music. It also hosts the annual Unite Africa which looks to spread global awareness about issues that affect Africa and to develop lasting solutions.

Controversy

Rita Marley planned to have the body of her late husband, Bob Marley, exhumed and buried in Ethiopia, his "spiritual resting place" in 2005. She wanted it to be a month long celebration of what would be his 60th birthday. The area in which she wanted to bury him was a Rastafarian community that was given land by the country's last emperor, Haile Selassie. She claimed to have the backing of the Ethiopian government and said "We are working on bringing his remains to Ethiopia. It is part of Bob's own mission. Bob's whole life is about Africa, it is not about Jamaica. How can you give up a continent for an island? He has a right for his remains to be where he would love them to be. This was his mission. Ethiopia is his spiritual resting place. With the 60th anniversary this year, the impact is there and the time is right."

Books

Rita Marley, Hettie Jones (2004). No Woman, No Cry: My Life with Bob Marley. Hyperion, ISBN 0-7868-6867-8