Rita Marley, the widow of Jamaica’s most famous cultural icon, Bob Marley, turns 75 on Sunday and tribute must be paid to her indomitable spirit and fortitude.

Mrs Marley has managed to keep the Marley legacy alive and kicking. She deserves every accolade that has been showered on her. Here are 10 things you may not have known about the ‘Lioness of Reggae’.

1.     Rita Marley is a citizen of Ghana after moving to the African nation in the 1990s and settling there. Marley’s Ghanaian name is Nana Afua Addobea. She has a home in the nation’s capital, Accra.

2. It was her vision to transform Bob Marley’s house at 56 Hope Road in Kingston into the Bob Marley Museum. 

3.      Her single ‘One Draw’, released in 1982, was a major hit in Europe but was deemed not fit for airplay in her native Jamaica. It was the first reggae single to top the Billboard Disco chart.

4.  Rita Marley is a member of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Her baptismal name is Ganette Mariam, which means Paradise of St. Mary.

5.  She reportedly introduced Bob Marley to Rastafarianism 

6. Rita Marley has 12 children, over 60 grandchildren and one great grandchild, according to the Rita Marley Foundation website.

7.     Her eldest daughter, Sharon, was adopted by the ‘reggae king’ and is presently married to Ghanaian Ekow Alabi Savage.

8.     In the early 1990s a federal jury ruled that Rita Marley was not guilty of helping to skim some US$20 million from Bob Marley’s estate. However an attorney and an accountant were found guilty of fraud and ordered to repay US$2 million to the estate.

9.     In 2006, a London Court threw out a 60 million pound lawsuit filed by former Wailers bass player Aston ‘Family Man’ Barrett against Rita Marley claiming he had framed bass lines and written songs for Marley but was not compensated.

10.   She is a trained nurse.