- Interest in former Miss World Cindy Breakspeare has spiked due to a recent Bob Marley biopic.
- Breakspeare and Marley had a romantic relationship while he was married to Rita Marley.
Cindy Breakspeare is a jazz singer, former Miss World, and mother of one of Bob Marley's children.
Interest in Breakspeare has spiked recently following the release of the biopic "Bob Marley: One Love," starring Kingsley Ben-Adir as the reggae icon and Lashana Lynch as his wife Rita Marley.
The movie largely celebrates the singer, but also references Bob and Rita's extramarital relationships. In real life, Breakspeare and Marley met in Kingston, Jamaica, and dated for six years.
Here's everything to know about Breakspeare's relationship with Marley and where she is now.
Breakspeare and Marley's relationship began before the Miss World competition and continued until the musician's death in 1981
Breakspeare, born in Toronto on October 24, 1954, moved to Jamaica when she was 4. Breakspeare and Marley met when she lived at 56 Hope Road in Kingston with her older brother. Breakspeare said that Marley's band, The Wailers, rehearsed behind the building.
"In the comings and goings, we started chatting here and there, the conversations became longer, sparks started to fly and we became romantically involved," she said in 2019.
"When I met him and began to know him, he was on the brink of stardom," Breakspeare added.
When she got the phone call that she'd compete in the 1976 Miss World competition, she was with Marley at Essex House in New York.
Breakspeare was crowned Miss World on November 18, 1976. Her and Marley's first and only child together, a son named Damian "Jr. Gong" Marley, was born in 1978. Marley missed Damian's birth because he was on tour at the time.
Breakspeare started a jewelry company called Ital Craft the following year with her friend Donna Coore. She said Marley supported the business and supplied materials from England and Australia and power tools.
Breakspeare's romance with Marley existed outside his relationship with Rita, who he was married to from 1966 until he died of melanoma in 1981.
Breakspeare spoke about her dynamic with Rita in a 2020 interview with 876 Questions — which recently went viral on TikTok.
"We got along fine," Breakspeare said. "We took care of him in the same apartment in New York when he first fell ill. I would hold the fort; she would go. She would hold the fort; I would go out. She was the one who said to me, 'You can crash with us if you want.'"
Breakspeare added that "romantic jealousy" wasn't a factor.
"You're watching his life being sucked out of him bit by bit," she said.
"This is no time for petty jealousy. It's just not the time, and obviously, we both felt that way."
Breakspeare's relationship with Marley has faced more scrutiny following the release of 'Bob Marley: One Love'
Breakspeare, now 69, has three total kids and is a grandmother to six boys.
In addition to Damian, Breakspeare shares two children with her first husband Tom Tavares-Finson, whom she met through a mutual friend when she was living at 56 Hope Road. Her son Christian is a lawyer and her daughter Leah "dances to the beat of her own drum," Breakspeare said in 2020.
Breakspeare has been married to musician Rupert Bent II since 1999.
In her interview with 876 Questions, Breakspeare said that she misses Marley the most when she visits the Bob Marley Museum, which is located at 56 Hope Road.
"It's always very, very nostalgic because we both lived there," she said.
Most recently, Breakspeare honored Marley on what would have been his 79th birthday on February 6 by sharing a series of photos on Instagram.
"Bob, on what would have been your 79th Birthday, I celebrate the incredible impact you've had globally, cherish our amazing son Damian, and reminisce about the beautiful times we shared — from 56 Hope Road to your mother's home in Delaware and Miami, New York, Oakley Street in London, The Bahamas, Trinidad, and beyond," she wrote. "The memories are countless, but our love for you is endless. Happy Birthday to the people's hero, loved and revered by all."
Her tribute post received mixed reactions, with some people calling her "classless" and other people coming to her defense.
In a 2021 interview for "Odyssey With Yendi" Breakspeare said that she's used to critics, "but you can't rewrite history."
"So, whatever it is, I'll take it," she said. "People only throw stones at the ripest mango."
"Bob Marley: One Love" is in theaters now.