Damian Marley
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| Damian Marley | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Damian Marley |
| Also known as | Junior Gong |
| Born | July 21, 1978 Kingston, Jamaica |
| Genre(s) | Reggae Ragga Dancehall |
| Years active | 1996 - Present |
| Label(s) | Tuff Gong, Universal Records |
| Associated acts | Bob Marley, Ky-Mani Marley, Ziggy Marley, Stephen Marley, Julian Marley, K'Naan |
Damian Robert Nesta "Junior Gong" Marley (born July 21, 1978 in Kingston, Jamaica), is a three time Grammy-winning reggae artist and is the youngest son of reggae legend Bob Marley.
Damian was two years old when his father died, and is the only child born to Marley and Cindy Breakspeare, Miss World 1976. Damian's nickname Junior Gong is derived from his father's nickname of Tuff Gong. Damian has been performing since the age of 13. He shares with most of the Marley family a full-time career in music. Unlike his brothers and sisters, however, his musical specialty is "toasting", a Jamaican style of rapping.
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[edit] Albums
As of 2006, he has released three albums. His first, Mr. Marley, was released in 1996, his second, Halfway Tree in 2001, and his third, Welcome To Jamrock in September 2005. Halfway Tree was the 2002 recipient of the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album. At the 2006 Grammy Awards, he won Best Reggae Album again for Welcome to Jamrock and Best Urban/Alternative Performance for the song "Welcome to Jamrock". He is the first and only Jamaican reggae artist in history to win two Grammy Awards on the same night.
[edit] Tours and guest appearances
In 2004, Damian participated in the 27-city Bob Marley Roots, Rock, Reggae Festival Tour with his four brothers, Ziggy, Julian, Stephen, and Ky-Mani, each of whom have their own professional recording careers.
Damian frequently tours with his brothers Julian and Stephen, who are both members of the Ghetto Youths Crew. In 2004, Damian recorded a song with hip hop group Cypress Hill called 'Ganja Bus' on their album Till Death Do Us Part. Damian Also appears on the song "Get a Light" by Snoop Dogg. This song is on the album "Tha Blue Carpet Treatment." He is also featured on the track "put your lighters up" by Lil' Kim and on a recent Gwen Stefani remix "Now That You Got It" (produced by Swizz Beatz).
During mid-2006, Damian went on tour with musical artist Ben Harper all around the US. He played in many known stages, such as Central Park New York. He was also one of the many artists who played at the inaugural Osheaga Festival, in Montreal.
In May 2006, Marley performed at KROQ Weenie Roast. In June 2006, Marley performed at Bonnaroo Music Festival. In July 2006, Damian should have played at the Danish music festival Roskilde Festival, however he had to cancel due to troubles with customs.[1]
On January 7, 2006 Marley conducted the main performance at Peace Fest in Trinidad.
On September 19, 2006 Marley became the first reggae artist to perform for the popular PBS show Austin City Limits.
Damian also participated in Season 3 of Extreme Makeover Home Edition by performing a special concert for the Rainford family, in which the father Dunstin was a Jamaican native.
Over the last year he has played numerous University homecomings including Emory and Indiana, often accompanied by his brother Stephen. Stephen was also present when Damian played music festivals such as Miami's Bang, Earth Day in San Francisco and the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in April 2007 in Indio, CA.
Marley recently did a song with pop sensation Gwen Stefani. The two made a remix version to the song "Now That You Got It" off of the album The Sweet Escape. Stefani now performs this song on her Sweet Escape Tour.
Furthermore a collaboration with Guru has been released on Jazzmatazz 4, "Stand Up Some Things'll Never Change" in 2007
He also collaborated with Mariah Carey on her new album E=MC² (April 15, 2008) on a song called "Cruise Control."
Damian recently appeared at the Sonoma County Harmony Festival in Santa Rosa on June 7, 2008.
[edit] Personal life and beliefs
Born Damian Robert Nesta Marley, he was nicknamed "Jr. Gong" in honour of his legendary father, Bob "Tuff Gong" Marley. His childhood best friend was Dano McNamee, who in his early teens introduced Damian to cannabis. He is a Rastafari and his music reflects both his beliefs and the Rastafari guiding principles of one love, one planet, and freedom for all nations. While he travels and tours the better part of the year, his home base is split between Kingston, Jamaica and Miami, Florida.
[edit] Discography
- 1996: Mr. Marley
- 2001: Halfway Tree
- 2005: Welcome to Jamrock (Gold) #7 US, #34 UK
- 2007: Mr. Marley Re-Release
[edit] Singles
| Year | Title | Chart positions | Album | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Hot 100 | US R&B/Hip-Hop | US Rap | UK Singles Chart | |||
| 2002 | "I'm Right Here" (Samantha Mumba feat. Damian Marley) | #80 | - | - | #5 | Woman |
| 2005 | "Welcome to Jamrock" | #55 | #18 | #12 | #13 | Welcome to Jamrock |
| 2005 | "The Master Has Come Back" | - | - | - | #74 | Welcome to Jamrock |
| 2005 | "Road to Zion" (featuring Nas) | - | #57 | - | - | Welcome to Jamrock |
| 2006 | "Beautiful" (featuring Bobby Brown) | - | - | - | #39 | Welcome to Jamrock |
| 2006 | "All Night" (featuring Stephen Marley) | - | - | - | #137 | Welcome to Jamrock |
| 2007 | "Now That You Got It" (Gwen Stefani feat. Damian Marley) | - | - | - | #59 | The Sweet Escape |
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.roskilde-festival.dk/object.php?obj=4c9000f&base=57872774&code=1 Roskilde Festival announcement and explanation of Marley's withdrawal from the festival.
[edit] External links
