MIAMI.- Much has been said about Bob’s life. Marley; Even on January 15, 2024, Paramount released the biographical film Bob Marley: The Legend. In this film, part of the relationship that the Jamaican had with his wife appears: Alpharita Constantia Marley Anderson, known as Rita Marley. And although Rita’s nationality was not mentioned in the production, it should be noted that the person who supported the interpreter in her career and the fight against the violence that her country was experiencing was a Cuban.
Born on July 25, 1946 in Santiago de Cuba, the reggae singer also came to Jamaica very small because her parents, Cynthia Beda Jarett and Leroy Anderson, decided to migrate to the Caribbean island country.
“After the couple’s separation, Rita was cared for by her paternal aunt. She grew up in a very humble environment in Trench Town, a neighborhood located in the capital, Kingston,” he said. BBC by publishing a biography of the singer.
“In the autobiography that Rita wrote with Hettie Jones, No Woman No Cry. My life with Bob Marley (No woman No cry. My life with Bob Marley), the singer says that the Andersons were a musical family. She herself liked music and, one day, her aunt took her to a radio show to participate in a talent contest that she ended up winning,” the British media detailed.
The audition that brought Bob and Rita Marley together
It was then that interest in music led Alpharita Constantia to meet the love of her life and the father of three of her six children.
“She had her first daughter, Sharon, at 18, but they prevented her from continuing the relationship with her father. However, the opportunity to sing arose when she met some young people who were part of a band that was already playing on the radio, Los Wailers. She went to an audition with a friend and a cousin she used to sing with,” BBC recalled. It was there that Rita and Bob met.
“Between rehearsing and recording, Rita didn’t want Bob to know that she had a daughter. At that time,” she wrote, “for an unmarried teenager to have a child was seen as shameful. But when he found out, Bob was very kind. Why didn’t you tell us? “I asked her. Rita was struck by her genuine concern, especially for being so young. Her interest in my baby made me feel proud,” published the British media, bringing up some quotes from the autobiographical book.
Thanks to the relationship they established in The Wailers, both artists ended up falling in love and married in 1966. After that, Bob Marley adopted Sharon and with Rita he had three children: Cedella, David Ziggy and Stephen.
