Cynthia Jean Cameron Breakspeare (born October 24, 1954) is a Canadian-Jamaican

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

singer, musician and beauty queen. Breakspeare was crowned Miss World 1976. Breakspeare is the mother of

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

musician Damian Marley, a result of her affair with

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981) was a Jamaican singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, he fused elements of reggae, ska and rocksteady and was renowned for his distinctive voca ...

, who remained married to

Rita Marley Alfarita Constantia "Rita" Marley OJ OD ( Anderson; born 25 July 1946) is a Jamaican reggae singer. She is the widow of reggae musician Bob Marley. Along with Marcia Griffiths and Judy Mowatt, Rita was a member of the reggae vocal group the ...

until his death.

Life and career

Breakspeare was born in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Canada, to a Jamaican father, Louis Cameron Breakspeare and a Canadian mother of British origin, Marguerite Cochrane. She has three brothers and one sister. 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 Miss World is the oldest existing international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951. Since his death in 2000, Morley's widow, Julia Morley, has co-chaired the pageant. Along with Miss Universe, Mi ...

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, Breakspeare accepted the invitation and won the title on November 19, 1976, becoming the second Jamaican to do so. Cindy didn't face the backlash from society that Lawrence Rowe and the

South African rebel tours The South African rebel tours were a series of seven cricket tours staged between 1982 and 1990. They were known as the rebel tours because the international cricketing bodies banned South Africa from competitive international cricket througho ...

cricketers got for doing similar during that time period.

Personal life

Breakspeare had an affair with reggae musician

beginning in 1976, lasting until 1980. Despite being married to

, 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. Three years later, Breakspeare married senator Tom Tavares-Finson on July 19, 1981 (2 months after Bob's death), 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. Breakspeare remains a personality in Jamaica, occasionally featuring in local media.

Filmography

* '' Marley'' (2012), interviewee

References

External links

Jamaican Hall Of Fame: Cindy Breakspeare
{{DEFAULTSORT:Breakspeare, Cindy 1954 births Living people Jamaican female models Canadian people of Jamaican descent Canadian people of British descent Jamaican people of British descent Jamaican people of Canadian descent Marley family Miss Jamaica World winners Miss World winners Miss World 1976 delegates Canadian emigrants to Jamaica Musicians from Kingston, Jamaica Singers from Toronto