She is a singer born Alpharita Constantia Anderson in Santiago, Cuba, and raised in Kingston, Jamaica.
During the mid-1960s she recorded at Studio One as a member of The Soulettes and while there she met up and started a relationship with Bob Marley. They married in 1966 and had three children together as well as bringing up her two daughters, who Bob adopted.
She continued to work with two different versions of The Soulettes in the 1960s and recorded “Piped Piper” as well as backing the group The Wailers until 1974. She co-founded the trio The I-Threes with Judy Mowatt and Marcia Griffiths, who became the backing singers for Bob Marley & The Wailers, and with them she saw countless hit singles such as “Buffalo Soldier”, “Could You Be Loved”, “Exodus”, “Get Up, Stand Up”, “ I Shot the Sheriff”, “No Woman No Cry”, “Three Little Birds” and many more.
At the same time she also worked as a backing singer on albums by artists such as Big Youth, Jimmy Cliff, Serge Gainsbourg and Peter Tosh.
Following the death of her husband she continued on with her solo career, releasing several albums during the 1980s and in 1990 such as Beauty of Gods, Good Girls Cult, Haramble (Working Together for Freedom), Rita Marley, We Must Carry On and Who Feels It Knows It which produced the singles “One Draw” and “Play Play”. She also spent much of her taking care of the Marley estate and turned his house into the Robert Marley Museum and founded the Robert Marley Foundation and the Bob Marley Trust.
In the 1990s she was recognised for the contributions she has made and 1996 saw her being awarded the Order of Distinction by the Jamaican government. In the 2000s she went back to releasing further solo albums with the 2003 Sings Bob Marley…and Friends, the 2004 Play Play, the 2005 Sunshine After Rain and the 2006 Gifted Fourteen Carnation and published the book No Woman, No Cry: My Life With Bob Marley in 2004.
Relocating to Africa, she now resides in Konkonuru in Ghana where she has been dubbed “Queen of Development” and is active in many humanitarian causes with her Rita Marley Foundation, which was established in 2000. In 2008 she was the executive producer of the documentary film Africa Unite.
Bob Marley & The Wailers recordings
Could You Be Loved (Bob Marley )
Island WIP 6610-A (UK 45)
One Drop (Bob Marley )
Island WIP 6610-B (UK 45)
Redemption Song (Bob Marley)
Island: WIP 6653-A (UK 45 PS)
Redemption Song (Band Version)(Bob Marley)
Island: WIP 6653-B (UK 45 PS)
https://youtu.be/8U6yVIoZdHo
Sources:
- http://www.vh1.com/artists/az/marley_rita/bio.jhtml
- http://web.bobmarley.com/family/bio.jsp?id=200701241417
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rita_Marley
- http://ritamarleyfoundation.org/about.html
- http://www.roots-archives.com/artist/319
- http://www.amazon.com/Rita-Marley/e/B000APYJMU
- http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0549138/