Ziggy Marley

Song-writer and performer David Marley, later renamed to Ziggy Marley, was born on October 17, 1068, in Kigston, Jamaica. He is the great Bob Marley’s first son, which made his only destiny to play reggae. Ziggy has become a big star mainly thank to his own talent, so hard to reveal and prove being overshadowed by such a famous father. In the years when Bob tried to rise to prominence with his own band The Wailers, David was grew in one of the poorest sectors of Kingston. Later, his family moved to Delaware, where Bob had his second son, Stephen born in 1971, who appeared the fourth kid after two sisters, Sheron and Cedella, and David. In 1979, all the four children participated in the recording of the song Children Playing in the Streets. This composition was penned by Bob himself to pay the audience’s attention to the problem of the Jamaican children being raised in the incredible poverty. The funds raised with this single were contributed to the United Nations Children’s Fund.

Bob Marley died in 1981 with his sons singing at his funeral. Shortly afterwards, the famous artist’s all children assembled The Melody Makers band. Each member had his or her own vocal parts, while Ziggy took up the guitar. Stephen occupied the drum kit. Late in 1981, the group issued the debut single What a Plot. Four years later, The Melody Makers released their first long player under the title Play the Game Right. The sales of the record were miserable, and so were those of the second effort Hey World! (1986), despite the critic mentioning the evident progress. In 1988, the outfit took up the new title Ziggy Marley & the Melody Makers and delivered Conscious Party. This CD appeared much stronger than the ones coming before it and made it through to the wide audience. It featured the material that combined nicely the elements of reggae, rock and pop-music. Ziggy Marley wrote the largest part of the compositions and was good at making them cheerful and sparkling, yet at the same time thought-provoking. Listeners were mostly captivated by the track called Tomorrow People. This record climbed high in the American charts of both pop-music and R&B/hip-hop. The same year, the musicians brought home the Grammy award for the Best Reggae Recording.In 1989, Ziggy Marley & the Melody Makers prepared another top-quality full length record, One Bright Day, to please critic greatly, consolidate the band’s leading positions in the reggae music world and earn them one more Grammy prize. However, it was not a good seller at all, failing to repeat the commercial accomplishments of its predecessor. In the nineties, Ziggy and his ensemble took some more efforts to regain financial stability and recorded a number of completely new albums, including the 1997 long player Fallen Is Babylon, another Grammy-winner in their collection. Nevertheless, soon after that, the musicians came to an agreement to disband.

Ziggy Marley remained in the music business and launched a silo career. In 2003, he released his first album, Dragonfly. Just like before, his songs again touched upon some of the most urgent social and political issues. The recording of this disc involved the participants of the established American rock act The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and some other performers. Basically reggae-oriented, the material borrowed much from rock and hip-hop. In 2006, Ziggy came back to the market with the new record called Love Is My Religion. The given work won Grammy, too. The profitable music activity enabled Ziggy to work fruitfully in the field of charity and establish the U.R.G.E. organization to help children from the globe’s poor regions. In spring 2009, Markey returned to the listeners granting them with the Family Time long player.