World of Jamaican Music

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An illustrated map of the creators of Jamaican music and how they are connected.

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Cedella Booker

Artist. Reggae

Active
1991-2008
Sunrise
July 23, 1926, Rhoden Hall, St. Ann, Jamaica
Sunset
April 8, 2008, Miami, Florida, United States
Also known as
Cedella Marley, Cedella Marley Booker, Sidilla Editha Malcolm, Cedella Malcolm

Cedella Booker was Bob Marley's mother, a singer in her own right, and, after his sunset, his biographer and one of the keepers of his memory.

Born Cedella Malcolm in Rhoden Hall, St. Ann, the daughter of Omeriah Malcolm, a farmer and bush doctor, she was known for her singing as a young woman, and it was her voice that first caught the attention of Norval Marley, a white overseer much older than she was. They married when she was eighteen, and their son Robert Nesta was born in the St. Ann hills. After Norval's sunset she moved with Bob to Trench Town, the only place she could afford; with Thaddeus Livingston, the father of Bunny Wailer, she had a daughter, Claudette Pearl. In 1963 she married Edward Booker, an American civil servant, and lived with him in Delaware, where their sons Richard and Anthony were born; after his sunset in 1976 she settled in Miami.

She recorded the albums Awake Zion (1991) and Smilin' Island of Song (1992), sang gospel, reggae and soul, and sometimes performed with her grandchildren. She created the 9 Mile Music Festival in Miami in 1993 and wrote two books about her son, Bob Marley: An Intimate Portrait by His Mother (1997) and Bob Marley, My Son (2003). She departed in Miami in 2008, at eighty-one, in her sleep.

Last updated October 23, 2026

Connections

Notes

  1. "Booker, Cedella Marley 1926-2008," Contemporary Authors, via Encyclopedia.com, accessed October 21, 2026, https://encyclopedia.com/arts/educational-magazines/booker-cedella-marley-1926-2008, citing obituaries in the Chicago Tribune (April 10, 2008) and the Los Angeles Times (April 20, 2008).
  2. "Cedella Booker," Wikipedia, accessed October 21, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cedella_Booker, citing David W. Dunlap's obituary in the Independent, April 11, 2008. "In the Groove: The Trials and Tribulations of Bob Marley's Mother," The Standard (Zimbabwe), accessed October 21, 2026, https://thestandard.co.zw/standard-style/article/200014027/in-the-groove-the-trials-and-tribulations-of-bob-marleys-mother calls her "his landlord's 17-year-old daughter" when the relationship began.
  3. "In the Groove." "Cedella Booker."
  4. "Cedella Booker." "In the Groove."
  5. "Booker, Cedella Marley," which dates the albums. On the festival and the books: "Cedella Booker."
  6. "Cedella Booker."

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