Rita Marley net worth
What is Rita Marley’s Net Worth?
Rita Marley OD is a Cuban-born Jamaican singer who has a net worth of $50 million. Rita is the widow of reggae legend/musician Bob Marley, and she is a member of the trio the I Threes, Bob’s backup singer. Rita is known for carrying on her late husband’s musical legacy and developing her own career as a solo artist. After Bob’s death in 1981, Rita established the Bob Marley Foundation, the Bob Marley Group of Companies and the Bob Marley Trust and converted their former Kingston home to Bob in 1986 Marley Museum.
Rita has released several albums, including “Who Feels It Knows” (1981) and “We Must Go On” (1988), and in 2004 published her memoir “No Women, No Crying: Me and Bob Marley’s Life”. In 1996, the Jamaican government awarded her the Medal of Honor, and in 2010 she received the Marcus Garvey Lifetime Award. Rita, an honorary citizen of Ghana since 2013, was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of the West Indies in 2015. Rita was nominated for two Grammy Awards: “Reggae Sunsplash ’81, A Tribute To Bob Marley” (1982) and ” We Must Carry On” (1991) for best reggae album.
Bob Marley Estate
When he died in 1981, Bob Marley was worth $11.5 million. That’s the equivalent of $30 million in today’s dollars. Bob died without a will because his Rastafarian beliefs forbid admitting his own death. Under Jamaican law, when someone dies without a will, 10% of the property goes immediately to the widow. In Bob’s case, that’s Rita. Over time, widows can eventually accumulate an additional 45% share of the property, for a total of 55%. The rest is divided equally among all living children. After Rita dies, 100% of the control will be assigned to his living children.
Encouraged by some shady advisers, his widow Rita Marley forged Bob’s signature on a will that allegedly predates his death. This will keep most of his fortune to herself. When one of Marley’s longtime business managers discovered what had happened, he began a 10-year legal battle that cost him $6 million, about half the estate’s value.
In the end, a Jamaican court ordered that control of Marley’s property belonged to Chris Blackwell, owner of Bob’s record label, Island Music. Blackwell managed the estate through Island Logic Ltd until 2001, when full control was passed to Rita Marley and his 11 recognized legitimate children.
early life
Rita Marley was born on July 25, 1946 in Santiago de Cuba as Alpha Rita Constantia Anderson. Rita’s parents, Cynthia Jarrett and Leroy Anderson, separated when she was a child, and she was raised by her Aunt Viola in Kingston, Jamaica . In her youth, Rita loved to sing and competed on the TV show “Lanamans Children’s Hour”, which she won with a rendition of “Our Father – The Lord’s Prayer” by Mario Lanza. Rita attended Bethesda College of Practical Nursing before meeting Bob Marley in the mid-’60s and becoming the “Queen of Reggae.”
Profession
After meeting Marley and Peter Tosh, Rita formed The Soulettes group with Constantine “Dream” Walker (her cousin) and Marlene “Precious” Gifford, and Bob became their manager and mentor. Soulettes released songs such as “Friends and Lovers”, “A Deh Pon Dem” and “That Ain’t Right” for Studio One Records. In the summer of 1966, Bob, Peter Tosh and Bunny Livingston formed the independent record label Wail ‘n’ Soul’m, releasing several 45RPM singles by Bob Marley and the Wailers and Peter Tosh and the Wailers. In 1968, Livingston was jailed for marijuana possession, and Rita briefly replaced him in The Wailers, around this time the group met American singer Johnny Nash, who produced some of their rock record. In April 1968, Nash’s manager Danny Sims signed an exclusive production, publishing and management contract with Rita, Bob and Peter, and gave them the opportunity to record for the American label JAD, which is owned by Nash, Sims and musician Arthur all Jenkins. These recordings were released on the 2003 album Freedom Time.
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In 1974, after Bunny and Peter left the band, Bob formed the trio I Three to provide backing vocals and accompaniment for the Wailers. I Three included Rita, Judy Mowatt and Marcia Griffiths, who performed on the Bob Marley & the Wailers albums “Natty Dread” (1974) and “Rastaman Vibration” (1976). Sadly, Bob died of cancer on May 11, 1981, at the age of 36. After his death, Rita released several successful solo albums in the UK, her 1982 single “One Draw” sold over 2 million copies and was the first to number one on the “Billboard” disco chart reggae tracks. In 2000, she founded the Rita Marley Foundation, dedicated to “alleviating poverty for people in developing and less developed countries.” The organization provides scholarships to music students, supports underprivileged musicians, and rebuilds and refurbishes health care facilities and libraries. In 2006, Rita and The I Three performed Fergie’s song “Mary Jane Shoes” on the 5x Platinum (US) album “The Dutchess”. In 2019, she reunited with The I Three to receive the Iconic Award (duo/group) from the Jamaican Reggae Industry Association.
personal life
Rita married Bob Marley on February 10, 1966 in Kingston, Jamaica. Before marrying Bob, Rita had a daughter named Sharon (born November 23, 1964) from a previous relationship that Bob adopted after the wedding. With Bob, Rita has daughters Cedra (born August 23, 1967), sons David (aka “Ziggy”, born October 17, 1968), and sons Stephen (born April 20, 1972). On August 17, 1974, she gave birth to a daughter, Stephanie, and another daughter, Serita, on August 11, 1985. Both Ziggy and Stephen grew up to be Grammy-winning reggae musicians. According to the Rita Marley Foundation’s website, she also “adopted 35 children in Ethiopia and worked to impact their lives in a practical and positive way.” In 1976, Rita and Bob were raped in their Jamaica home. Gunmen attack. A bullet got stuck in Bob’s arm and Rita was shot in the head. The bullet was reportedly “stuck between her skull and scalp” and was surgically removed.
While promoting her memoir in 2004, Rita claimed that Bob raped her after he refused to have sex with him due to infidelity in the early ’70s, saying: “Bob wouldn’t refuse to answer. He said to me, ‘No, You are my wife and you should do it. So he forced me, I call it rape.” Rita later said she had been misquoted. In 2005, she announced plans to exhume Bob’s body so he could be buried in his “spiritual resting place” in Ethiopia, but after the announcement caused an uproar among Jamaicans, a spokesman for the Marley family issued a statement saying Jamaica “will continue to exist” The resting place of Bob Marley for the foreseeable future. In 2016, Rita was hospitalized in Miami after a stroke, and in January 2021, she fell victim to a death scam.
real estate
In 2010, Rita’s home/recording studio on Akwapim Hill in Ghana burned down, destroying $20 million worth of property. “The Million Dollar Studio” contains most of Bob’s original tapes. The Marleys also own a home called “La Randa” in Nassau, Bahamas, which Rita brought to the market in August 2020 for $980,000. The 3,900-square-foot estate includes three bedrooms and three bathrooms, and the one-bedroom guesthouse sits on a 45,629-square-foot lot.
