ttgapers.com

To millions she was the luckiest woman alive - married to Bob Marley, the international superstar of reggae, recognised the world over as a living icon. But for Rita Marley life with the "Negus" of reggae was far from a fairytale, as she watched the man she dearly loved disown and betray her at every turn.

When she tried to put her foot down by denying him sex until he stopped playing around, the young Jamaican adored by millions as a peace-loving legend forced his way into her home and raped her.

Talking publicly for the first time about that day in 1973, Rita, now 57, says: "Bob wouldn't take no for an answer. He said to me, 'No, you're my wife and you're supposed to.' So he forced himself on me, and I call that rape. Afterwards I felt so terrible. I screamed at him, 'I hate you, I hate you!'"

The rape happened after years of Marley's cheating with a stream of women, many of whom bore his children.

But despite everything, Rita insists she still adores him as much as the day they first met in 1965.

"Just because he did these things and cheated on me doesn't mean he was a bad husband. He always provided for me, always gave me anything I wanted.

"But he was corrupted by show business, by the girls who would throw themselves at him. This is what I've come to understand."