Rita Marley
*Rita Marley was born on this date in 1946. She is an Afro Cuban singer-songwriter and entrepreneur.
Alfarita Constantia "Rita" Marley was born to Leroy Anderson and Cynthia "Beda" Jarrett in Santiago de Cuba. Her parents moved to Kingston, Jamaica, when she was three months old. She was raised in Trenchtown in Kingston, Jamaica. Early in her life, Rita Marley was a founding member of the Soulettes group, which released recordings, including rocksteady tunes.
After recording for Studio One and meeting Bob Marley, they married around February 1966, just before he moved to Wilmington, Delaware. to work at the Dupont Hotel.
At the end of the summer of 1966, Bunny Wailer, Peter Tosh, and Bob Marley created their independent label Wail 'n' Soul'm, which released several records by Bob Marley and the Wailers. When Bunny was jailed in 1968 for cannabis possession, she joined the Wailers for a few months. At that time, The Wailers met singer Johnny Nash, who produced a series of Wailers rocksteady recordings. In 1981, Rita Marley purchased Federal Records recording studio, the island's first pressing plant. Tuff Gong studio is one of the largest Caribbean studios. In 1986, Rita Marley converted Bob Marley's home into the Bob Marley Museum.
She is the founder and chairwoman of the Robert Marley Foundation, Bob Marley Trust, and the Bob Marley Group of Companies. In 2000, she created the Rita Marley Foundation to alleviate poverty and hunger in developing countries. It targets older people and youth. It has given out several scholarships to music students in Ghana. It hosts the annual Africa Unite concerts, which strive to spread global awareness about issues that affect Africa and develop lasting solutions. She adopted 35 children in Ethiopia and has assisted over 200 children at Konkonuru Methodist School in Ghana. In 1996 and 2010, Rita Marley was conferred the Order of Distinction by the Jamaican Government and the Marcus Garvey Lifetime Achievement Award.
In 2013, the Ghanaian Government made her an honorary citizen of Ghana. In 2015 and 2017, Marley was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters degree by the University of the West Indies and the University of Fort Hare, South Africa. After Marley suffered a stroke in 2016, she made her first public appearance at an award ceremony by the Jamaican Government with the Order of Jamaica (O.J.). In October 2022, Marley was awarded the Jamaican Consulate General's Lifetime Achievement Award and honored by the South Miami Dade Cultural Arts Center during Jamaica's National Dance Theatre Company (NDTC).
On March 22, 2024, the International Reggae and World Music Awards (IRAWMA) honored her for her extensive philanthropic work throughout her life. She established the Rita Marley Foundation, which focuses on alleviating poverty and hunger and providing education in Ghana and Jamaica. In 2024, on International Reggae Day, Marley received the Winnie Mandela Humanitarian Award at the JulyOne celebrations hosted by the City of Miramar in Florida and Consul General Oliver Mair for her invaluable service to humanity through her music and philanthropic works in communities from Jamaica to Africa.
Marley has six children, three of whom were with Bob Marley and three from other relationships. Bob adopted her two other children, and they have Marley's name.
To Become a musician or Singer
To Become a Conductor or Composer
