Born on October 17: In the Marley family, I vouch for Ziggy

David Nesta, his real first name, was born in 1968 in the Trenchtown neighbourhood of Kingston, Jamaica. He is the son of Bob Marley and Rita.

Even before his father's death in 1981, his band Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers, accompanied by his two sisters Cedelia and Sharon, and his brother Stephen, had been formed in 1979. As the natural heir, he was chosen by the family to sing at the patriarch's funeral in Miami. However, his first album with the Melody Makers, "Children Playing," would not be released until 1984 on Tuff Gong, his father's label, of course.

The son still sees his father, who left far too soon, as "a revolutionary figure" who instilled in him principles of life from which he has no intention of deviating. "Love Is My Religion," the title of his second solo album in 2006, is therefore also a literal application of one of the dogmas decreed by the imposing guardian figure that Bob still embodies in his eyes. With this album, he also won a Grammy Award in 2007, in the reggae category, of course.

In February 2024, the biopic "One Love" was released online. Barely 12 years old when Bob died, Ziggy Marley took the opportunity to emphasise once again that the legendary "Exodus" singer's last words were not "Money can't buy life," as rumors have tirelessly claimed for years. "When I laugh," he confides, "it's like my father's laugh. Little pieces of him are like scattered inside me!"

For Ziggy, one of the most natural ways to remember Bob is to sprinkle his concerts with selected covers. The last time I saw him in 2022, he performed "Positive Vibration," "Get Up Stand Up," "Jamming," "Could You Be Loved," "One Love," and "Redemption Song." Like father, like son, then...

(MH with Stéphane Soupart - Photo : Etienne Tordoir)

Photo: Ziggy Marley at the Werchter Festival (Belgium) on July 3, 1988. He was just 20 years old.