Ziggy Marley Biography

Ziggy Marley

David Nesta "Ziggy" Marley (born October 17, 1968, Trenchtown) is a Grammy-winning Jamaican musician. He was the eldest son of Rita and Bob Marley, the legendary roots reggae singer. His mother Rita called and baptized him David, but his father Bob nicknamed him "Ziggy" referring to his childhood nickname. Born in Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica, Marley learned how to play guitar and drums from his father.

A native of Kingston, Jamaica, Ziggy Marley first sat in on recording sessions with his band, the legendary reggae troupe Bob Marley And The Wailers, when he was ten years old.

Joining the three siblings to become The Melody Makers, Ziggy made his own soulful sound mix of blues, rnb, hip-hop and roots reggae.

After their first two albums, Play The Game Right (1985) and Hey World! (1986), The Melody Makers get their first Grammy (Best Reggae Recording) for Conscious Party (1988), an album produced by Talking Heads Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth which included the hit songs "Tomorrow People" and "Tumbling Down."

The next album include Grammy-winning One Bright Day (1989), Jamekya (1991), Joy and Blues (1993), Free Like We Want 2 B (1995), their third Grammy winner Fallen Babylon (1997), Spirit of Music (1999) and Ziggy Marley & the Melody Makers Live, Vol 1 (2000), featuring some of their biggest hits and a cover of Bob Marley's "Could You Be Loved."

While album sales by countless millions and sell concert with the Melody Makers, including a European tour recently, Ziggy Marley has never lost sight of the fundamentals of the faith, fellowship and family.

After two decades as the driving creative force behind The Melody Makers, Ziggy stepped out on his own with his first solo album, Dragonfly (2003). Repetition is never satisfied with past success, Ziggy uses Dragonfly to explore new ground and creating his own distinctive musical identity as a solo artist.

"Working on my own gave me the opportunity to take my time and experiment a lot," says Ziggy materials at Dragonfly. "It took one year to complete this record. This is the longest ever worked on an album. It's different when you are on your own. At some point it's scary and then in others it is the drive that makes you focus more."

Although the most familiar member of the family often miss the music to step out on their own, to Ziggy, his debut solo instead of a long-awaited goal. "It's not something I look forward to since I started doing music," he said. "It was just circumstances, and I want to be true to myself and what I feel. Note has a powerful message and it felt good."

In addition to being the first album of Ziggy solo material, for Dragonfly he felt it was time for a change of scenery. "Usually we recorded in Kingston. These songs were written in Jamaica and recorded in America. I set the first record in a house in Miami and then went to LA to rent a house, prepare the equipment and basically did the rest in there. I left Jamaica for while, because as an artist I have experienced different things, to see the world and has a different energy. Stay in one place is not good for me and I'm tired of making music in a studio setting. I want to be more like everyday life part of me.

"As an individual, I have opened up more by traveling outside of Jamaica, and I was more able to be open to the people and ideas. It helped me to grow as a person outside my element, to be on my own in strange place to meet people. That's good for me to not be safe in my domain. "

Evidence that growth everywhere in the Dragonfly.

On July 2, 2006, Ziggy released his second album, Love is My Religion. He stated "This album is from my heart," and he felt that he embraced his spiritual and emotional side of life. This album shows Ziggy came into his own as an artist, because he wrote all the songs for the album and play almost any instrument.

Love is My Religion Ziggy Marley is a testament to talent when he followed his father's footsteps, Legend.