All about the talented Marley siblings

Damian “Jr Gong” Marley poses with the lion he adopted at the Nairobi National Park on May 30, 2017. PHOTO | FRANCIS NDERITU

What you need to know:

  • Ziggy recently received the 2017 George and Ira Gershwin Award for Lifetime Musical Achievement, making him the first reggae artist to receive the award in its 29-year history.
  • The award is named after George and Ira Gershwin, who adapted the UCLA Bruins fight song ”Strike Up the Band for UCLA” in 1936.
  • This award was established in 1988. Ziggy has been making music actively since 1979.
  • Got feedback on this story? E-mail [email protected]

Two-time Grammy Award winner Damian Marley will be performing Wednesday night at the Carnivore grounds. Damian is the legendary Bob Marley’s son. He is just one of the seven children that Bob sired with several women.

We take a look at what the Marley children have been up to. 

DAMIAN MARLEY (Aged 38)
Damian, aka ‘Jr Gong’, is a reggae artist who was two years old when his old man passed away, which means he grew up listening to his music like most people. His nickname is derived from his fathers’ sobriquet ‘Tuff Gong’. Damian started off his musical career as a Deejay and surprised many when he released his debut album in 1996. His third album Welcome To Jamrock, released in 2005, was a huge success becoming the only reggae album to win two Grammy Awards in one night.

He is the only child of Bob Marley and Cindy Breakspeare, Miss World 1976.

On Wednesday evening, he will be performing live at the ‘Street Fusion 2017’ at the Carnivore Gardens as part of his African tour, which commenced in Johannesburg, South Africa, and will end in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

ZIGGY MARLEY (Aged 48)
Ziggy is Damian’s half-brother. Ziggy’s’ mother, Rita Marley, gave birth to him in 1968 in Kingston, Jamaica. Ziggy is the oldest son of Bob Marley and just like his dad, he is also a reggae musician, songwriter and producer.

Ziggy recently received the 2017 George and Ira Gershwin Award for Lifetime Musical Achievement, making him the first reggae artist to receive the award in its 29-year history.

The award is named after George and Ira Gershwin, who adapted the UCLA Bruins fight song ”Strike Up the Band for UCLA” in 1936. This award was established in 1988.

Ziggy has been making music actively since 1979.

CEDELLA MARLEY (Aged 49)
Cedella is the first-born daughter of Bob Marley. She is a reggae musician as well, dancer, actress, fashion designer and an entrepreneur.

Cedella was one of the four members of the Melody Makers band that was formed at the request of their father before his death. The four who made up the band were all siblings and included Ziggy, who was the group’s leader, Stephen and Sharon.

The group released 10 albums, including two, Conscious Party and Fallen Is Babylon , which won Grammy Awards. Cedella also heads the family businesses, which include Tuff Gong Enterprises and the cannabis brand Marley Natural.

STEPHEN MARLEY (Aged 45)
Stephen, the youngest of the Bob and Rita Marley children, performed on stage with his dad at the Zimbabwe Independence day concert at the tender age of eight. Stephen is a singer as well as a producer.

He owns the Lion’s Den recording label that he has used to help many of his siblings release hits.

Stephen is an eight-time Grammy winner, three times as a solo artist, twice as a producer and three times as a member of the Melody Makers.

KY-MANI MARLEY (Aged 41)
Ky-Mani is a Jamaican reggae as well as hip-hop musician. He is the only child of Bob Marley and former Jamaican table tennis champion Anita Belnavis. Ky-Mani, who relocated to Miami in the US at the age of nine, also does RnB. He is also an actor and a Deejay.

JULIAN MARLEY (Aged 41)
Julian is a British-Jamaican reggae musician born to Bob Marley and Lucy Pounder. He has been nominated several times for Grammy Awards following inhis fathers’ footsteps including becoming a devout Rastafarian. Julian was born in England but would always travel to Jamaica to meet his other siblings.

ROHAN MARLEY (Aged 45)
Unlike his other siblings who are into music, Rohan is more into business, running the company Marley Coffee. Marley is also a retired American footballer. He was born to Bob and Janet Hunt at the time his father was still married to Rita. Just like his dad, Rohan has sired many children, counting up to seven currently.

SHARON MARLEY (Aged 52)
Sharon was a singer and a member of the Melody Makers. She is not Bob Marley’s biological child but was adopted by the legend when he married her mother. She won three Grammy Awards with the group when she was active in music until 2008, when she retired six years after the group disbanded and everyone went solo.

ROBERT MARLEY (Aged 45)
Robert Marley was born in 1972 to one of Bob Marleys’ nine baby mamas. Not much is known about his mother, Pat Williams, as he was brought to live with Bob and Rita. He is not a musician and has mostly stayed out of the spotlight running his graphic arts and motorcycle businesses.

KAREN MARLEY (Aged 44)
Karen, the third daughter of Bob Marley, was born in England to Janet Bowen. However, she grew up in Jamaica with her other siblings, going to school together. She is into fashion. 

 

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