The new film about the life of the reggae legend, Bob Marley: One Lovehit theaters this Wednesday, February 14, and this has given the opportunity to learn more about his history with his wife, Rita, who, not many knew, is Cuban.
The Cuban woman’s personal and artistic legacy has been reviewed in the film as much as that of the singer, as she is considered the matriarch of the Marley family, and the pioneer of an entire musical genre.
“Bob wouldn’t be Bob without Rita,” commented Ziggy, one of the couple’s children, in an interview with The Guardian in 2022.
Cedella, another of their daughters together, declared to BBC Mundo that their marriage was not only enriching for their personal life, but also gave them motivation in their careers.
“Just as they became life partners, they were also partners in the vision of their music and in the belief that behind that music there was a greater purpose,” he told the aforementioned media.
“When he worked on new songs, he would play his ideas to (Rita) and sometimes they would write together,” he added.
For his part, Mykaell Riley, professor and director of the Black Music Research Unit at the University of Westminster, in London, told the British media that Rita’s support for Marley during his career was crucial in his creative process. and helped him achieve the fame that ultimately made him a legend.
“For years, she was his strength, his confidant, when Marley felt sad, she was with him (…) Also, in his transition from the Jamaican countryside, the ghetto, to becoming a recognized person in his country, that relationship “It was what kept him (Bob) going,” he said.
“Although it became complicated over the years, that relationship was very important for Bob Marley’s personality and even for part of his music and lyrics,” added the expert.
In the tape about the interpreter Everything’s Gonna be Alrightthe prominent Santiago native is played by British actress Lashana Lynch.
Who is Rita Marley?
Rita was born on July 25, 1946, in Santiago de Cuba, although her parents emigrated to Jamaica when she was still very little. The marriage was dissolved and Rita was left under the guardianship of a paternal aunt, growing up very humbly in the Trench Town neighborhood, in the capital, Kingston.
Although her full name is Alfarita, it was shortened to Rita because her teacher said “it was too long to get on the list,” she recalls in the autobiography she wrote with Hettie Jones. No Woman No Cry: My life with Bob Marley.
An important step for his career came when he met some young people from a band that was already playing on the radio, Los Wailers. He went to an audition that allowed him to join the group.
“Did I have any idea that in a few months this Robbie Marley, the shy guitarist, would become the love of my life? Did you suspect that he would become a force majeure, world famous, an icon of musical history? ”He reflects in the same book.
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