Cedella Marley Booker, 80, flew from Miami to Addis Ababa on Thursday to join preparations for a large-scale tribute marking what would have been her son Bob Marley's 60th birthday. Rita Marley, the reggae star's widow, had been in Ethiopia since 6 January and greeted her at the airport.
The "Africa Unite" tribute, named after one of Marley's songs, opens February 1 and is expected to draw up to 200,000 visitors. A free outdoor concert at Addis Ababa's Meskel Square on February 6 will feature Youssou N'Dour of Senegal and Angelique Kidjo of Benin; concerts, exhibitions, and conferences are also planned in Shashemene throughout the month.
Ethiopia carries deep significance for the event: the late Emperor Haile Selassie is venerated as a spiritual figure within Rastafarianism, the faith Marley practiced, and the country is considered the movement's heartland. Marley visited in 1979 and died of cancer in 1981 at age 36.
Both Marley foundations denied circulating reports that Rita planned to have his remains moved from his burial site in Nine Miles, St Ann, Jamaica, to Ethiopia. Born in St Ann in 1945, Marley rose from Kingston's poorest neighborhoods to global recognition with songs including "No Woman, No Cry," "One Love," and "I Shot the Sheriff."
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in January 2005, in its own words.