Ziggy Marley Says Mom Rita Was ‘Backbone of Everything’: ‘Without Her, None of This’ Would’ve Happened (Exclusive)

Bob Marley’s legendary music helped catapult him to international stardom – but the support of his wife Rita helped create his legacy.

In this week’s issue of PEOPLE, Bob and Rita’s son Ziggy Marley opens up about his parents’ marriage and explains how Rita, 77, gave Bob the foundation to become a star.

“My mom is the backbone of everything. Without her, none of this would have happened. “My father’s career wouldn’t be what it is,” says Ziggy. “They really complement each other that way. You need someone like that by your side. You can’t do it alone. You could never do it alone.”

Rita, a singer and songwriter herself, met Bob when she was 17 and he was 19, and they got married in 1966. She performed with her husband as a backing singer, and together they had three children: Cedella (56), Ziggy, 55 , Stjepan, 51.

Although Bob had affairs with other women, resulting in seven children, Rita was undeterred, telling PEOPLE in 1984, “I love Bob more for handing me this legacy. I never interfered in other women’s affairs. I was always his special person. When God puts you together, you stay together no matter what happens.”

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Bob Marley.

Allan Tannenbaum/Getty

Ziggy tells PEOPLE that his parents “became together out of nowhere” and formed something that went beyond their physical relationship.

“They had more than a physical relationship,” he says. “They had a spiritual connection, and that’s the deepest kind of connection you can have.”

Rita is currently helping to preserve her late husband’s legacy as a producer on Bob Marley: One Love (out February 14), starring Kingsley Ben-Adir as the musician. Ziggy also works as a producer, as does Cedella, while his wife Orly is an executive producer.

Ziggy Marley with Bob Marley: One Love actors Lashana Lynch (who plays Rita) and Kingsley Ben-Adir (who plays Bob) in London on January 30, 2024.

Ian West/PA Images via Getty

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In the years since the loss of the “Redemption Song” singer to cancer in 1981, the family has remained the cornerstone of the Marley clan. Ziggy is the father of daughter Judah (18) and sons Gideon (17), Abraham (13) and Isaiah (7) with Orly and son Bambaata (34) and daughters Justice (32) and Zuri (28) from previous relationships.

“He would have liked to be a grandfather, he loved children. We grew up in a large family, so children were always around. He would be a loving grandfather,” says Ziggy. “I see something from him [in them] now and then. Nice to see. It’s joyful. One of my sons is like him. He’s a bit like my father, just like my father. He’s a boy just like Bob.”

He continues: “When we come together as a family, there is an energy. The grandchildren get a part of him through us. They see what we are like and maybe they can imagine, ‘Okay, maybe grandpa was like that too.’ Whenever we come together, we honor all of our origins.”

For more on Ziggy Marley, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE magazine, available now on newsstands everywhere, or subscribe here.

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Source: HIS Education