Cedella Marley Booker, Bob Marley’s mother, died yesterday in Miami, where she lived. Born on 23 July 1926 in Kingston, she married at 18 Norval Sinclair Marley, a white Jamaican, an army captain. Often away on his travels, he was rarely present but sent money regularly. When he died in 1955, Cedella Booker Marley moved to the Trenchtown ghetto in Kingston. Bob was then only ten.
After his death in 1981, she devoted two books to him: "Bob Marley, My Son" and "Bob Marley: An Intimate Portrait by His Mother". She also recorded two albums, "Awake Zion" and "Smilin' Island of Song". Remarried to an American, she had flown to Delaware before settling in Florida. Having become a personality over the years, she had been invited to Ja'Sound this year.