Ziggy Marley

Following in his famous father's footsteps, Ziggy made his recording debut alongside his siblings on Bob Marley's track "Children Playing in the Streets”. From an early age Ziggy had developed an interest in music as his father showed him the ropes and taught him the drums and guitars as he sat in mesmerised by studio sessions of The Wailers.

In 1979 along with his siblings Ziggy formed the Melody Makers who signed to EMI with Ziggy on lead vocals. They released their debut album "Play the Game" in 1985, produced by their mother which leaned towards a much poppier sound. After the lack of sales from their second release “Hey World” in 1986, the label wanted to market Ziggy as a solo artist but standing firm in belief they parted ways with EMI, moving to Virgin Records where they came to be known as Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers.

With the new label on board the band released the album “Conscious Party” in 1988 which was a commercial success, making its way into the Top 40 US charts featuring the iconic track “Tomorrow People”. In 1989 the album received a Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album.

As the nineties held little success for the band, Ziggy’s political voice became more apparent as he began working more with the United Nations after being recognised as their Goodwill Youth Ambassador. In 2002 alongside his brothers Ziggy started up Ghetto Youths Crew record label with the premise of helping under privileged youths in their daily struggle to survive.

Ziggy released his first solo album “Dragonfly” in 2003 which featured Flea and John Frusciante of Red Hot Chilli Peppers on the track “Rainbow in the Sky” and reached number three in Billboard’s top reggae albums. His second release “Love Is My Religion” in 2006 through his father’s label Tuff Gong Worldwide continued the success of his previous album and earned him another Grammy in 2007 for Best Reggae Album. It was the title track which saw Ziggy reach unprecedented heights as he blossomed into a worldwide star with his music the hitting airwaves.

Continuing his father’s namesake, Ziggy has continued building on the Marley legacy divulging into children’s author, philanthropist and musician.

Forming out of the ashes of the band Inner Circle, the founding line up of Third World consisted of keys player Michael Cooper, guitarist Stephen Coore and singer Milton Hamilton coming together in 1973. By 1974, they had made their live debut backed by bassist Richard Daley, drummer Carl Barovier and percussion Irvin Jarrett and were soon making a name for themselves in the reggae clubs and hotels of their native Kingston. They made such an impact that they were able to support The Jackson 5 themselves at the Jamaican National Stadium, but like many reggae acts of their time, the first territory that truly took the band to heart was the United Kingdom, where they signed to Island Records before embarking on their first European tour in support of The Wailers.

Their self-titled debut album was released in 1976, and by the time they'd released their second album, 1977's “96° in the Shade”, they'd become one of the hottest reggae acts in the world, hugely in demand for live shows and attracting an audience of just over 80'000 at 1976's Smile Jamaica Festival. This hype translated into the band's first bona-fide hit single, which came in the form of 1978's “Now That We Found Love”. The cover of The O'Jay's single was a top ten hit in the U.K and a top 50 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, and by the early 80's, the band were in their imperial phase. However, internal friction within the band meant that Jarrett left in the mid-80's, but to this day, despite several line up changes, the band is still lead by Coore and Daley, playing live shows that are better than ever, and still releasing records that sound as fresh as their debut. For being the kind of band that any group would want to be four decades into their career, Third World come highly recommended.