West News Wire: Joseph “Jo Mersa” Marley, a reggae musician and the son of Stephen Marley and grandson of Bob Marley, passed away at the age of 31.
Although a cause of death was not immediately provided, his representative told Rolling Stone on Tuesday that he had passed away.
Marley, who was born in Jamaica and reared in Miami, continued his ancestors’ musical legacy by performing on stage with Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers. He started writing songs when he was in middle school, and his musical career really began in 2010 with the publication of the tune “My Girl,” on which he and his cousin Daniel Bambaata Marley worked together. He wrote a song with his father for his album “Revelation Part 2: The Fruit of Life” in 2016.
Marley grew up with his musician father and surrounded by Bob Marley’s other children, including uncle Ziggy and aunts Sharon and Cadella.
Jo Mersa Marley spoke of how music enveloped his upbringing in a previous interview with Rolling Stone.
“I would come home and try to do homework, but I’d end up getting distracted and go peek in the studio. You would always want to run in and run out to see what was going on,” he said.
He was intent on creating his own path, and released his own debut album “Eternal” in 2021. He had studied studio engineering at Miami Dade College.
“I am one of the new generation of Marleys, but I am still experimenting at the same time,” he had told Rolling Stone. “My plan is to do something new with my roots.”
News of Marley’s death elicited mourning on social media, including a post from Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness.
“My heartfelt sympathies to Joseph’s friends and associates and to the Reggae music fraternity and fans everywhere,” Holness tweeted Tuesday. “His untimely passing at the young age of 31y.o. is a huge loss to the music as we look to the next generation.”
