ORLANDO, Fla. — Ziggy Marley is an eight-time Grammy winner and the eldest son of Bob and Rita Marley.
Ziggy is about to perform a live tribute to his father in Orlando — the only one in Florida.
In addition to his eight Grammy awards, Ziggy Marley is also an Emmy winner, musician, producer, activist and humanitarian who has cultivated a legendary career for close to 40 years.
The eldest son of Bob and Rita Marley, Ziggy has hewed his own path as a musical pioneer. “For me, storytelling is really something we're inspired to do,” he says. “I'm not a professional writer. I didn't go to school to write songs. Nobody taught me how to put some words together. It's something that came as an inspiration. It must be shared. It must be enjoyed.”
So what's it like playing his father's music on stage? “When I play my [Bob Marley's] music, it's not really like I'm playing my father's music. It's like I'm playing my own music because I feel it. I'm not playing someone else's song. I'm playing my song.”
The secret to his daily joy is to always try to be a better human being. “That's my “trick,” he says, laughing. “That's my trick. And it makes my life so much more relaxed and unstressed, and I just feel so much more powerful. I feel so strong!”
Ziggy Marley: A Live Tribute to his Father is this Thursday at 7 p.m. outside at the Dr. Phillips Center in Orlando as part of its continuing Frontyard Festival.