All About Bob Marley’s Parents, Cedella Booker and Norval Marley

Reggae icon Bob Marley’s upbringing with his parents, Cedella Booker and Norval Marley, inspired many of his musical works.

The singer’s parents met in the parish of St. Ann in Jamaica, and they married in 1945, around the time Bob was born. They had a son, whose full name was Robert Nesta Marley, on February 6, 1945. Booker and Norval’s marriage was short-lived and they separated soon after Bob’s birth, in large part due to Norval’s status as a middle-aged white plantation manager and Booker’s identity as a black teenagers.

While growing up in Jamaica, the singer faced bullying because of his origins. In an interview with S. in 1975 Rock’s Backpagesper GuardBob shared how he decided to focus on his message of peace and love, a theme that was further explored in the 2024 biopic. Bob Marley: One Love.

“Because my father is white and my mother is black. You know what they call me, half-caste or whatever,” he said. “Well, I don’t side with anybody, I don’t side with the black man or the white man, I’m on the side of God, the man who made me, who caused me to come from the Black and the White, who gave me this talent .”

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As for who the “One Love” singer was following, Booker revealed in a 1995 interview with Toyin Adekale that she believed her son was more like her.

“I would say Bob followed me. Yeah, I’d say that,” she said. “Because of most of his actions, you know that Christian way in him, I think he got it all from me. I’m sure.”

Here’s everything you need to know about Bob Marley’s parents, Cedella Booker and Norval Marley.

They met in Jamaica and got married in 1945

Jamaican reggae musician Bob Marley.

Allan Tannenbaum/Getty

Booker and Norval, a British naval officer, met in Nine Miles, a rural village in the parish of St. Ann in Jamaica, early 1940s.

The couple married in 1945, according to Bob’s official website, and had a son that same year. Booker was 18 when she gave birth to the future reggae star.

Bob was their only child together

Booker and Norval had Bob on February 6, 1945, and shortly after his birth the couple separated.

While Bob was their only child together, Booker had three more children. She had a daughter with Thaddeus Livingston and two sons with her second husband, civil servant Edward Booker, by The Independent.

Norval died when Bob was 10 years old

According to Bob’s website, Norval’s family did not approve of his union with Booker.

After their separation, Norval provided financial support to the family, but he hardly saw his son, and the visits stopped completely when Bob was 5 years old.

Five years later, Norval died of a heart attack.

Booker and Bob’s move to Kingston inspired his music

Bob Marley performs at the Crystal Palace Bowl in London in 1980.

Pete Still/Redferns

Booker and Bob eventually moved to Kingston, the capital of Jamaica, and settled in an area called Trench Town, after The Independent.

The poverty and political violence Bob and his mother faced in the community led to some of his most popular songs, including “No Woman, No Cry” and “Trench Town Rock,” according to Bob’s official website.

Booker initially did not want Bob to pursue music

Cedella Marley Booker performs on the Central Park Summer Stage.

Ebet Roberts/Redferns

Bob dropped out of school at age 14, and Booker encouraged her son to pursue a craft instead of music, according to the artist’s website. He worked as an apprentice welder until a small piece of steel stuck in his eye causing Bob to quit and focus on music.

Although it wasn’t her initial hope for Bob, Booker talked about being emotional when she saw her son perform. During an interview with Roger Steffens in 1993, Booker recalled the first time she saw Bob in concert in April 1976.

“That was my first time seeing Bob perform. Actually, it started at home because he sent a limousine to pick us up,” she said. “Ten of us packed into that car and then we went there. Even on the road… I’ll be listening to my son’s performance, and everyone is so excited to hear the conversations going around. I tell you, I was excited myself. Oh man, that night brings joy, brings tears, everything.”

Booker was a singer and writer

Cedella Booker at a ceremony at Toronto City Hall on May 6, 1992 to mark Bob Marley Day.

Boris Spremo/Toronto Star/Getty

Bob’s music is known worldwide, but Booker has also released two albums of her own, a 1984 gospel album called Awake Zion! and a 1992 children’s album titled The smiling island of song. In her 1995 interview with Adekale, Booker revealed that her mother and sisters were also singers, and it was Bob who convinced her to pursue music.

“I didn’t even think about singing to the public myself,” she said. “But when Bob asked me, he said, ‘Mom, I want you to record a gospel album.’ We started before he left.”

Booker added, “I live in Miami and all, so you know, time was running out and I didn’t get to finish… then after Bob passed, then The Wailers backed me up and then let the dream come true because I really wanted to do for him because he asked me to.”

In honor of Bob, Booker founded the 9 Mile Music Festival in 1993, which featured all kinds of music artists from reggae to R&B. She also published two biographies of Bob’s life, Bob Marley: An Intimate Portrait of His Mother (1996) and Bob Marley: My son (2003).

Bob named his oldest daughter after Booker

Cedella Marley at the Los Angeles Premiere of “Marley” on April 17, 2012 in Hollywood, California.

JB Lacroix/WireImage

Bob’s oldest daughter with his wife Rita Marley was named after Booker. In a 2016 interview, Cedella Marley revealed a letter her grandmother wrote to her two years before her death, explaining why she believes Bob passed on her name.

“I am writing to let you know how I feel. You are my role model. Since you were born,” Booker wrote in the letter, according to Cedella. “That’s why your dad found it in his heart to name you after me, my first GD [granddaughter]. We are unique.”

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Booker died in 2008 at the age of 81

Booker died at the age of 81 on April 8, 2008, at her home in Miami, according to Los Angeles Times.

She died in her sleep of natural causes almost 27 years after Bob died at age 36 of melanoma.

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Source: HIS Education