When Bob Marley married his wife Rita Anderson Marley in 1966, she already had a toddler named Sharon. After the wedding, he legally adopted his stepdaughter, making her the oldest of his 12 children.
Sharon Marley has described her early childhood growing up in Trenchtown, Jamaica, as a very happy one. Far from leading a celebrity lifestyle in the public eye, Sharon didn’t even realize her father was famous when she was younger. Tragically, her carefree life was turned upside down by the assassination attempt on her father’s life in 1976, during which both Bob and Rita were shot. Sharon told Irie FM (via World Music Views) that was the night everything changed for her and her siblings: “That was the first time we knew what fear was because the police car came for us in the middle of the night … We saw the blue lights flashing at the gate, that moment in time will be forever printed on my soul.”
Sharon considered several different careers in her early life, from being an actress to a pediatrician, but after her father’s death, she was inspired to devote herself to following in his footsteps and becoming a musician. She started out by collaborating with her siblings Ziggy, Stephen, and Cedella in the award-winning family band The Melody Makers. Today, Sharon splits her time between philanthropic work, including with the Bob Marley Museum, the Rita Marley Foundation, and her own music. She is expected to release a new solo album in 2024.
