Bob Marley’s children, Ziggy Marley, Cedella, and Sharon Marley, defend their mother, Rita Marley, following an online row stirred by Cindy Breakspeare’s message for the reggae legend on what would’ve been his 79th birthday.
Urban Islandz reported that former Miss World and mother of Bob Marley’s son, Damian ‘Junior Gong’ Marley, penned a heartfelt tribute to the late singer as the world celebrated his birthday on February 6. Cindy Breakspeare remembers some fond times with Bob as she labeled him the “people’s hero.”
Her post caused quite a stir on social media as some fans criticized her for what they call disrespect towards Bob’s wife, Rita Marley. Ziggy and Sharon Marley are now saluting Rita as no ordinary woman.
“I admire [Rita Marley] strength, courage and dignity she is truly from a lineage of African Queens and it’s not just because she is my mother I have truly seen and every one who knows her how royal she is,” Ziggy wrote on Instagram while sharing a black-and-white photo of his mother in her younger days. “I’ve got stories from my childhood of her standing up under threat that to this day is etched in my memory. This woman is no ordinary woman.”
“When a woman tek a bullet in her head because she loves and stands with you and still show up days after to stand by your side again with no concern about her own safety it does something to a man it tells a man something he will never forget and forever cherish a woman like that is impossible to find one in a billion billion,” Ziggy said in captioning the image.
Ziggy Marley’s sister, Sharon, appears a little more direct in her comment on the post amid chatters about Rita and Cindy Breakspeare. “To woman can walk in my mother’s shoes. She is the real QUEEN. Thats just facts. No hard feelings,” she wrote.
The full extent of Bob Marley and Cindy Breakspeare’s relationship was not captured in the Bob Marley: One Love biopic, although some scenes of her character with Bob were filmed in London during the movie’s filming. The movie is primarily about a volatile period in Bob Marley’s life in the mid to late 1970s when he survived an attempted assassination and fled to England as political violence gripped Jamaica. The singer recorded his classic album Exodus during that period.
Rita Marley’s official Instagram account also shared a photo of herself with the i-Threes and Bob Marley at their concert at the Rainbow Theatre in London in June 1977. “It was always beautiful when Bob came over mid concert to connect with me and my sisters,” she wrote. Cedella Marley shared a comment on the post, “The One and only. Many were called but you were chosen. Go deh Mrs. Marley,” Cedella wrote.
Ziggy Marley also shared his original comment on another commenter’s comment on Rita Marley’s post. “Yassss Mrs. Marley. I think Gong knew what he was doing until the end,” the comment reads as the commenter seemingly takes a dig at Cindy Breakspeare. “You keep getting his blessings. So to the legends side piece no matter how far and wide you traveled Memba yu was still a piecemeal Bob love everybody but Mrs Marley had his heart and it different.”
In the meantime, fans continue to praise Rita Marley for her strength and courage being around Bob Marley in perhaps the most tumultuous period of his life.
“Rita deserves all of her many flowers. She gave so much. She endured so much. She pushed her Family and its name to a higher level, it couldn’t been done without her. A true Mama Africa. Thank you a million times over,” one person wrote.
Another added, “Thank you for making this post. It’s important to highlight these key facts especially when side chicks trying hard to rear their unpretty Miss World face.”
