The Story of Bob Marley, Women and their Children

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Recommended: Summary of Bob Marley's life and how he contributed to the development of Jamaica

The Story of Bob Marley, Women and their Children

Introduction

The music genre of reggae has become indelibly linked with artist Bob Marley. To this day, nearly two decades after his death from cancer, Bob's legacy lives on in his popular songs of oppression, racial strife and resistance. Yet, his heritage is also carried on by the people who he touched. Like any rock star, famed musician or celebrity, women surrounded him wherever he went. "That Bob was not a one woman man was common knowledge," says Don Taylor, though Bob had been married to Rita Anderson throughout his climb to the top rungs of the musical ladder (Taylor). The purpose of this paper is to explore the details of Bob's marriage to Rita, his longstanding relationship with former Miss World Cindy Breakespeare, his trysts with other women, and the children that were born out of his sexual escapades and to look also at how Bob's behavior with women typified Rastafarian beliefs and customs.

Bob's Marriage with Rita

Alpharita Constantia Anderson was born in Cuba to Leroy Anderson and Cynthia "Bada" Jarrett. At the age of three months, Rita, as she was known, immigrated to Jamaica.
After her parents relocated to Europe, the girl was raised by her strict aunt Viola on Greenwich Park Road in Trench Town, Kingston (Boot). It was here that Rita first encountered the trio of Bob, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer as they passed by her home while walking on their way to Coxsone One Studio. Rita had heard the Wailer's music but it was not until a friend accompanied her to the studio that she was officially introduced to the group. Once it was learned that Rita was a singer in addition to being a nurse, an audition was arranged immediately for her group, the Soulettes.

The audit...

... middle of paper ...

...ancer. Norton: New York, 1994.

Steffens, Roger. "Forward." The Beat 1994: volume 13, #3, p. 6.

Steffens, Roger. "Cuisine Heart-- Gilly Gilbert, Bob's Ital Cook." The Beat 1994: volume 13, #3, p 56.

Taylor, Don. Marley and Me: The Real Bob Marley Story. Barricade: New York, 1995.

White, Timothy. Catch a Fire. Holt: New York, 1998.

Whitney, Malika and Dermot Hussey. Bob Marley: Reggae King of the World. Pomegranate: San Francisco, 1998.

http://www.bobmarley.com/life/legacy/rita

http://www.bobmarley.com/life/legacy/children

http://www.melodymakers.com/mm/steve.html

http://www.melodymakers.com/mm/ziggy.html

http://www.melodymakers.com/mm/cedella.html

http://www.melodymakers.com/mm/sharon.html

http://www.melodymakers.com/mm/juliandamian.html

http://www.cwrl.utexas.edu/~bill/students/marley/history/bob/wedfam.html

http://hem.passagen.se/ielbo/wail/wailerft.htm

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