Solomon Marrow: What happened to Ice-T’s father?

Solomon Marrow is the father of Ice T. Solomon Marrow’s son is an American rapper, songwriter, actor, and producer. He co-founded the heavy metal band Body Count, which he introduced on his 1991 rap album O.G. Original Gangster, on the track titled “Body Count”. As an actor, Ice-T is known for  Breakin’ and its sequels, Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo and Rappin’. His major role debut was starring as police detective Scotty Appleton in New Jack City (1991).

Solomon Marrow: Bio Summary

Solomon Marrow was born on 19 Feb 1910 in New Jersey to Solomon Marrow sr. and Ethel Schuyler Marrow. Unfortunately, Ice T’s father passed away on 18 May 1971, in Summit, Union County, New Jersey, USA at the age of 61. Solomon Marrow was a mechanic. For decades, Ice-T’s father Solomon worked as a conveyor belt mechanic at the Rapistan Conveyor Company.

He was married to Alice Marrow who was from a Louisiana Creole background. Solomon and Alice named their son Tracy Lauren Marrow, however, he chose the name “Ice-T” as his stage name. When Ice-T was young, Solomon moved the family to upscale Summit, New Jersey from Newark, New Jersey where his son was born. The first time race played a major part in Ice-T’s life was at the age of seven, when he became aware of the racism leveled by his white friends towards black children.

ALSO, READ; Alice Marrow: What Happened To Ice-T’s Mother?

 The rapper surmised that he escaped similar treatment because they thought that he was white due to his lighter skin. Talking to his mother about the incident, Alice replied to him, “Honey, people are stupid”; her advice and this incident taught the rapper to control the way the negativity of others affected him.

Solomon Marrow’s wife Alice died of a heart attack when he was in third grade. Ice-T was raised by his father as a single father for four years, with help from a housekeeper. The rapper’s first experience with illicit activity occurred after a bicycle that his father bought him for Christmas was stolen.

After he gathered the courage to tell his father, Solomon shrugged, “Well, then, you ain’t got no bike”.The Young Ice-T stole parts from bicycles and assembled “three or four weird-looking, brightly-painted bikes” from the parts; his father either did not notice or never acknowledged this. 

ALSO, READ; Najee Laurent Todd Eugene Smith, LL Cool J’s son

What happened to Ice-T’s father? How did he die?

When the rapper was thirteen years old, his father Solomon Marrow died of a heart attack. He died on 18 May 1971 at the age of 61 in Summit, Union County, New Jersey, USA. At the age of 13, Ice-T had already lost both parents, the death of his parents took a toll on the rapper. The orphaned rapper briefly lived with a nearby aunt, then was sent to live with his other aunt and her husband in View Park-Windsor Hills, an upper-middle-class Black neighborhood in South Los Angeles.

Ice-T’s cousin Earl was a fan of rock music and listened only to the local rock radio stations; sharing a room with him sparked Ice-T’s interest in heavy metal music. In 1975, at the age of seventeen, the rapper began receiving Social Security benefits resulting from the death of his father Solomon Marrow, and used the money to rent an apartment for $90 a month.

Even though both parents passed away at an early age and was also surrounded by crime and gangs while growing up, the rapper cleaned up his act and found a way out through music. Now, he is a respected entertainer and a family man. The rapper found “the one” in swimsuit model Nicole Coco Austin. They tied the knot in 2002 and even worked together in the reality show “Ice Loves Coco.”