Cindy Breakspeare
Canadian-Jamaican musician and beauty queen (born 1954)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cynthia Jean Cameron Breakspeare (born October 24, 1954) is a Canadian-Jamaican jazz singer and beauty queen. Breakspeare was crowned Miss World 1976. Breakspeare is the mother of reggae musician Damian Marley, a result of her affair with Bob Marley, who remained married to Rita Marley until his death.
24 October 1954
- Singer
- musician
- model
Cindy Breakspeare | |
|---|---|
| Born | Cynthia Jean Cameron Breakspeare 24 October 1954 Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Education | Immaculate Conception High School |
| Occupations |
|
| Spouses | |
| Children | 3; including Damian Marley |
| Beauty pageant titleholder | |
| Title | Miss World 1976 |
| Years active | 1972–present |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | |
Life and career
Breakspeare was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to a Jamaican father, Louis Cameron Breakspeare and a Canadian mother of British origin, Marguerite Cochrane. She has three brothers and one sister.[1]
Breakspeare moved to Jamaica when she was four years old, and attended the Immaculate Conception High School, graduating in 1973. As a teenager, Breakspeare participated in beauty pageants, including Miss Jamaica Body Beautiful and Miss Universe Bikini. She was invited to participate in the Miss World competition in 1976 held in London. Despite Jamaica's 1970s government banning Jamaicans from participating in competitions that included South Africa under its apartheid rules,[2] Breakspeare accepted the invitation and won the title on November 19, 1976,[3] becoming the second Jamaican to do so.[4] Cindy didn't face the backlash from society that Lawrence Rowe and the South African rebel tours cricketers got for doing similar during that time period.[5]
Personal life
Breakspeare had an affair with reggae musician Bob Marley beginning in 1976, lasting until 1980. Despite being married to Rita Marley, Marley was in relationships with several other women around this time, including Pascaline Bongo, and Yvette Anderson who gave birth to his child in 1981. From Cindy's extramarital affair with Marley she gave birth to a son, Damian Marley in 1978.[6] Three years later, Breakspeare married senator Tom Tavares-Finson on July 19, 1981 (2 months after Bob's death),[7] with whom she has a son, Christian (b. 1982), and a daughter, Leah (b. 1986). Breakspeare and Tavares-Finson later divorced in 1994. Breakspeare married musician Rupert Bent II in 1999. Breakspeare has been pursuing her career as a recording artist and entrepreneur. She founded a Rastafarian craft store called Ital Craft in Jamaica. Breakspeare has six grandsons from her three children.[8] Breakspeare remains a personality in Jamaica, occasionally featuring in local media.[9]
In February 2024, Cindy faced major backlash from the public after posting a birthday tribute to Bob Marley and wrote about their affair in great detail. Many sided with Rita Marley, Bob’s widow and felt it was disrespectful towards her. Cindy has remained a controversial figure over the years, she has received a lot of vitriol and hate for being brazen about her affair with the married singer. [10][11]
Filmography
- Marley (2012), interviewee
- ReMastered: Who Shot the Sheriff? (2018), interviewee
