In an interview with the relix.com website in the summer of 2019, Ziggy Marley saluted his mother Rita’s unappreciated skill as an artist.
“Her music is always surprising to me. My father’s music dominates our lives, basically. So every time I listen to my mother’s music, it’s something new, even though I’ve heard it before. The message, the instrumentation- it is ahead of its time. Listen, let me tell you, she’s a creative individual, an artist,” he said.
He was promoting The Best of Rita Marley: Lioness of Reggae, a 10-song retrospective of her career. It was released by his company Tuff Gong Worldwide.
Rita Marley, widow of Bob Marley and matriarch of one of pop music’s most famous families, turns 75 today (July 25).
Though ill health has prevented her from making many public appearances, the Marley organization will present a tribute concert today to be streamed live on the Tuff Gong Youtube channel.
Among the performers will be Marcia Griffiths and Judy Mowatt, her colleagues in the I Three; Tanya Stephens, Tessanne Chin and Ernie Smith.
While she is best known to many for touring with her husband as a member of the I Three, Rita’s career started in the early 1960’s. After Bob’s death in May, 1981, she released a succession of hit songs including One Draw and Harambe, which are on ‘The Lioness of Reggae’.
Ziggy, the third of her six children, also hailed Rita’s versatility in the relix.com interview.
“She not only did music, but also acted in local pantomime in Jamaica. She was a part of the cultural society that would educate the younger generation. Her music has influences of the theatre, in a Jamaican sense,” he noted. “Her lyrics, her songs, are quietly powerful, like a stream that runs quietly, but when the dam bursts it floods the place. A quiet power; subtle, but the message is very strong.”
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