Celebrity Online NewsOnline Celebrity Gossip and News

This article or section relies largely or entirely upon a single source. Please help improve this article by introducing appropriate citations of additional sources. (September 2008)

Damian Marley
Background information
Birth name	Damian Marley
Also known as	Junior Gong
Born	July 21, 1978 (1978-07-21) (age 30) 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), is a three time Grammy-winning reggae artist and is the second 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 vocal technique that is a predecessor to rapping.

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.

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, Ky-Mani, and his cousin jahmoni Marley 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 December 2006 Damian appeared alongside of brothers Stephen and Julian In Stephen's music video "The Traffic Jam". 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 also made a song with Method Man and Redman from The Wu-Tang Clan. He is also featured 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.

Damian was the opening act for Van Halen during their 2007 Reunion tour concerts in Philadelphia.

Damian performed at the june black arts festival in hunstville alabama on june 2007 along side his 2nd cousin Lance "wayne" Marley.

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

Damian recorded his song "Welcome to Jamrock" in Simlish for "The Sims 2: Bon Voyage", an expansion pack in the The Sims series.

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.

Damian also made an appearance at the 1st annual Romantic Rhythms Music Festival on the island of Antigua in the Caribbean. He appeared along side a varied list of entertainers such as Shaggy, Lionel Ritchie, Kenny Rogers, Keyshia Cole, Maxi Priest and Brian McKnight, to name a few. The festival ran from June 13 to 15, 2008.

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 Sparrow from the riff, who in his early teens introduced Damian to cannabis. He is a Rastafarian and his music reflects both his beliefs and the Rastafarian 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.

Discography

• 1996: Mr. Marley
• 2001: Halfway Tree
• 2005: Welcome to Jamrock (Gold) #7 US, #34 UK
• 2007: Mr. Marley Re-Release
• 2009: Damian Marley: 1996-2008

Singles

References

1. ^ 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.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Damian Marley

• Official website