Damian Marley was born on July 21, 1978, in Kingston, Jamaica to reggae legend Bob Marley
and 1976 Miss World, Cindy Breakspeare. As a teenager, Damian performed
with the Shepherds, but worked with his older brother Stephen on his
first album, "Mr. Marley." Damian’s commercial breakthrough was the 2004
single “Welcome to Jamrock.” He's won two Grammy awards and lives in
Miami, Florida.
Contents
- Synopsis
- Early Life
- Foray into the Music Business
- Critical Success
- Commercial Breakthrough
Singer, songwriter, producer. Born on July 21, 1978, in Kingston, Jamaica. Only two years old when his father, reggae legend Bob Marley
died, Damian Marley has explored his musical roots to become of today’s
hottest performers. He is nicknamed “Jr. Gong,” which comes from his
father who was known as “Tuff Gong.”
Like several of Bob Marley’s children, Damian was born out of wedlock and outside of Bob’s marriage to singer Rita Marley.
Damian’s mother, Cindy Breakspeare, was Miss World in 1976, and she
raised her son in a Kingston suburb, not far from Rita Marley. Despite
not being one of her own, Rita welcomed Bob’s children from other
relationships into her home. (Bob Marley fathered eight children in
addition to the three he had with Rita.) Damian told
Entertainment Weekly that Rita’s house “was like the family HQ.”
Marley started his own journey in the music business at an
early age. As a teenager, he performed with the Shepherds, which also
included other reggae progeny, Shiah Coore whose father is Cat Coore of
Third World and Yashema McGregor whose mother is Judy Mowatt of the
I-Threes. While the band had some success in Jamaica, Marley eventually
decided to strike out on his own. He worked with his older brother
Stephen on his first album,
Mr. Marley
(1996). The two co-wrote many of the album’s tracks together. Embracing
his musical ancestry, Marley announced to the world “Me Name Jr. Gong.”
But the album’s upbeat dancehall style failed to connect with some
listeners.
With Stephen producing much of his next effort,
Halfway Tree
(2001) brought Damian more critical praise and attention for combining
dancehall and hip-hop styles. The recording won the Grammy Award for
Best Reggae Album with both Damian and Stephen taking home awards for
the project. Unfortunately, all of the kudos did not translate into big
record sales. Still he accomplished something that his famous father was
never able to achieve - winning a Grammy Award. The award category for
reggae music was not added until the mid-1980s.
Damian’s real commercial breakthrough came from the single
“Welcome to Jamrock” released in 2004 by Tuff Gong. Tuff Gong is an
independent record label started by Bob Marley
in the mid-1960s and is still in the control of the Marley family. Set
to a mesmerizing rhythm, the track explored the real-life hardship and
political strife facing the people of Jamaica.
0 comments:
Post a Comment