Bob Marley’s widow has lived in Ghana for many years and has been involved in numerous charity projects as well as helping to organise the Africa Unite concerts.
Rita Marley, widow of reggae legend Bob Marley, was made an honorary citizen of Ghana and received a Ghanaian passport from the government on Saturday.
Rita Marley has lived in Ghana for many years and is known as Nana Afua Abodea I, within the Aqwapim region of that country.
She has been involved in numerous charity projects there, as well as operating a recording studio and helping to organise the Africa Unite concerts.
Born Rita Anderson in Cuba, and raised from an early age in Jamaica’s Trench Town, Marley’s musical career began in the early sixties as a vocalist with the all-female group The Soulettes who appeared with the Four Tops, Johnny Nash and other stars of the day.
By the early seventies, Rita and Bob had developed the I-Threes, Jamaica’s leading female singers (Rita Marley, Judy Mowatt, Marcia Griffiths), to provide support harmonies for Bob Marley and the Wailers, who had become the first reggae act to secure an international recording contract.
They quickly graduated to the world stage and the songs of love, hope, unity and struggle became the vehicle that transported reggae music, the message of Rastafari, and the culture of Jamaica across the planet.
On her official website she notes, “Reggae is the heartbeat of a person. It’s the people’s music. Everywhere you go, you get the same response from both black and white.”
The fruit of your labor will always speak for you…