Biography
Though widely recognized for her marriage to Bob Marley, Rita Marley also maintained an independent solo career both prior to and after their union, while assuming responsibility for preserving her spouse's artistic heritage in the wake of his early passing in 1981. Alpharita Anderson entered the world in Cuba and spent most of her formative years in Kingston's Trenchtown neighborhood, where she initially performed as part of the all-female ska group the Soulettes. That trio began cutting sides for Clement "Coxsone" Dodd's Studio One imprint in 1964, prompting Dodd to enlist his rising protégé Bob Marley as their guide; Marley and Anderson soon became romantically involved and wed in 1966. Across the mid-'60s she appeared on discs by two successive Soulettes configurations, scored several successful standalone releases such as the hit "Pied Piper," and contributed backing vocals to select Wailers tracks from the same era. Following the 1974 departures of Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer, she assembled the I-Threes, the female harmony trio completed by Marcia Griffiths and Judy Mowatt. The I-Threes supplied studio and concert support for Bob Marley through the final phase of his career, concluding with his death from melanoma in 1981. Earlier, in 1976, the couple survived an assassination attempt in which a bullet grazed Rita's head and another struck Bob's arm.
Coinciding with Bob's fatal battle with cancer, Rita released her own 1981 solo album Who Feels It Knows It. The spiritually uplifting project yielded the buoyant single "One Draw," an unabashed endorsement of marijuana consumption whose instructional tone led to a BBC ban yet made it the first reggae track to reach the summit of Billboard's disco singles chart, then the primary metric for dance-club activity. A second track, "Play Play," achieved modest traction in the U.K. Nevertheless, sustained solo work proved elusive; throughout the '80s she devoted considerable energy to managing the legal and commercial affairs tied to her late husband's name and catalog while also guiding her children's group Ziggy Marley & the Melody Makers. Solo activity resumed with the 1988 album Harambe (Working Together for Freedom) and continued with We Must Carry On in 1991, the latter earning a Grammy nomination. Both sets extended her signature blend of danceable, roots-oriented reggae carrying spiritual themes and an unmistakable playful spirit. In 2003 she issued another collection, Rita Marley Sings Bob Marley...and Friends.
Coinciding with Bob's fatal battle with cancer, Rita released her own 1981 solo album Who Feels It Knows It. The spiritually uplifting project yielded the buoyant single "One Draw," an unabashed endorsement of marijuana consumption whose instructional tone led to a BBC ban yet made it the first reggae track to reach the summit of Billboard's disco singles chart, then the primary metric for dance-club activity. A second track, "Play Play," achieved modest traction in the U.K. Nevertheless, sustained solo work proved elusive; throughout the '80s she devoted considerable energy to managing the legal and commercial affairs tied to her late husband's name and catalog while also guiding her children's group Ziggy Marley & the Melody Makers. Solo activity resumed with the 1988 album Harambe (Working Together for Freedom) and continued with We Must Carry On in 1991, the latter earning a Grammy nomination. Both sets extended her signature blend of danceable, roots-oriented reggae carrying spiritual themes and an unmistakable playful spirit. In 2003 she issued another collection, Rita Marley Sings Bob Marley...and Friends.
Albums
Live
