Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer

A team from the Tuff Gong Recording Studio in Kingston celebrate what would be Cedella Booker's final celebration of her son Bob's birthday with her, at her home in Nine Miles, St Ann in February. - Norman Grindley/Deputy Chief Photographer

Cedella Booker, mother of pop icon Bob Marley and matriarch of reggae's most famous family, died at her Miami home on Tuesday evening. She was 81 years old.

Jerome Hamilton, a spokesperson for the Marleys, told The Gleaner that Booker passed away in her sleep. No cause of death has been given.

Booker was a popular figure in the South Florida area she called home for more than 30 years. Since 1993 she was integrally involved in promotion of the annual Bob Marley Movement Festival there, which raised funds to buy food for the indigent.

The live show attracted major stars including Carlos Santana and Wyclef Jean.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Bruce Golding paid tribute to Booker, saying she was a star in her own right. "Her life was one of hardship, struggle and fulfilment and through it all she exuded hope, strength and confidence."

Information Minister Olivia Grange described Booker as a 'true heroine'.

Booker, who is survived by two of her four children, last visited Jamaica in February for the annual celebrations marking Bob Marley's birthday. A thanksgiving service for her life will be held in Miami on Sunday, a statement from the Marley family said.

Cedella Malcolm was born in Rhoden Hall, St Ann. At 18, she gave birth to her first child Robert Nesta Marley; his father was Norval Marley, an Englishman 35 years her senior.

Shortly after Norval Marley died in 1955, Cedella moved with Bob to Kingston. She lived in Trench Town, then an expansive slum bursting with musical talent.

Marley achieved relative success with The Wailers group in the early 1960s. During that period, Booker married an American and immigrated to the United States in the early 1960s, settling in Delaware.

After Marley's death from cancer in May 1981, Booker launched her own musical career, recording two albums: Awake Zion and Smilin' Island of Song.

She also wrote two biographies on her famous son.