KSDK NewsChannel 5 - Jamaican Mourners Pay Tribute To Late Mother Of
Reggae Superstar Bob Marley

Jamaican Mourners Pay Tribute To Late Mother Of Reggae Superstar Bob
Marley
Created: 4/27/2008 9:05:59 PM
Last updated: 4/27/2008 9:06:21 PM

By HOWARD CAMBPELL Associated Press Writer

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP) -- Thousands of mourners paid tribute Sunday to
the late mother of reggae superstar Bob Marley, whose renowned music
promoting social justice and "one love" made him one of Jamaica's most
beloved sons.

Cedella Booker's casket was draped in blue, red, yellow and black
cloths, the colors of the Rastafarian faith, and displayed in
Kingston's National Stadium.

Booker died earlier this month in her Miami home at age 81. She will
be buried Monday alongside her late son in his birthplace, the town of
Nine Miles.

Richard Booker, one of two sons from a second marriage, remembered his
mother as a deeply spiritual woman who joyfully cared for her family.

"She read her Bible every day and listened to gospel music every
evening," he told crowds of friends and relatives who gathered as
drummers performed traditional Rastafarian rhythms and chants.

Booker, a native Jamaican, was 18 when she married Norval Marley, a
British man 32 years her senior. Their son brought reggae music world
fame, becoming its international frontman with songs including the
classic "One Love."

Bob Marley died of a brain tumor in Miami in 1981, at age 36.

Norval Marley died in 1955 and Booker remarried an American man,
settling in Delaware. She wrote two biographies of her son and
recorded two albums, "Awake Zion!" and "Smilin' Island of Song."

Booker is survived by two children and several grandchildren,
including Bob's son Ziggy Marley, who won four Grammys with the Melody
Makers, a band that included brother Stephen and sisters Sharon and
Cedella.