18, unemployed and homeless in one of the poorest cities of the Third World, Bob Marley eventually created what Time Magazine called, “The greatest album of the Twentieth Century.”
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Meanwhile, in 1974, he was attempting to reorganize the Wailers and decide on his next musical direction. He needed to replace the two most prominent departed, which he did with a trio of female backing vocalists that included his wife Rita, Marcia Griffiths and Judy Mowatt, dubbed as the I-Three.
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Previously a dilapidated mansion in a posh Kingston neighborhood at 56 Hope Road, a house that Bob Marley eventually purchased outright. Marley’s wife Rita was domiciled at Bull Bay, ten miles outside of Kingston, with the couple’s four children, including a son Stephen, born on April 20, 1972. Marley spent much of his time at Hope Road pursuing various relatively open romantic relationships including one with Esther Anderson, a high profile employee of Island, as well as an actress and model who starred in several Hollywood feature films.
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