Ziggy keeps the family business growing
He’s a reggae artist, an activist and a humanitarian. As of this year Ziggy Marley has added radio deejay.
Marley, a five-time Grammy winner, has a monthly program on SiriusXM’s The Joint, Channel 42. The program is called “Ziggy Marley’s The Legends of Reggae.”
According to Marley’s website, the show was launched in January with Marley interviewing reggae legend Jimmy Cliff. Episodes of the program also include music that the Marley family has produced, recordings from Marley’s personal collection of albums, cuts from his latest CD, “Wild and Free,” and selections from his days performing with the Melody Makers, the website noted.
Marley wrote the album’s title cut in support of California’s Proposition 19, which voters defeated in 2010. The proposition would have legalized marijuana.
January also saw Marley perform at a benefit concert in Boulder, Colo., for the organization GMO Free Boulder. The organization has been trying to get Boulder County government to stop allowing the planting of genetically modified crops on publicly owned open space.
Marley, the son of the late Bob Marley, also contributed the cover version of the song “Blowin’ in the Wind” on the Bob Dylan tribute album “Chimes of Freedom,” which was for Amnesty International’s 50th anniversary celebration. Marley was a spokesman for the human rights organization at the benefit.
His 2009 CD “Family Time” won a Grammy for Best Musical Album for Children.
Marley will be in concert with his band on Monday, July 9, at the Rio Grande Zoo. One week later, on July 16, he will headline a special concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles to pay tribute to some of the legends of reggae.
The honorees include Toots and the Maytals, Maxi Priest, Freddie McGregor and Bob Andy. All are to perform at the special concert, the website said.