Reggae artist Jo Mersa Marley, grandson of Bob Marley, dead at 31

Joseph Marley, the eldest son of eight-time Grammy-winner Stephen Marley and second grandchild of reggae legend Bob Marley, has died at age 31. The Jamaican-American recording artist and DJ, known professionally as Jo Mersa, was found unresponsive in a vehicle on Tuesday, Dec. 27, according to Kingston, Jamaica-based journalist Abka Fitz-Henley, who was the first to report the news. A representative for Jo Mersa later confirmed the news to Rolling Stone. A cause of death has not been revealed, although South Florida radio station WZPP has reported that the artist died of an asthma attack.

Joseph Marley was born on March 12, 1991, in Kingston, and the third-generation Marley grew up surrounded by music, performing onstage at age 4 with Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers — his father, his uncle Ziggy, and his aunts Cedella and Sharon — during that group’s concert finales. He moved to Florida at age 11, where he studied studio engineering and observed his father and uncle Damian Marley working in Stephen’s Lion’s Den studio. Joseph made his official musical debut in 2010 with “My Girl,” a collaboration with his older cousin Daniel Bambaata Marley, released on the Marley family’s imprint record label Ghetto Youths International and produced by his father. This was followed by the breakthrough track “Bad So” in 2012, with his debut EP, Comfortable, coming out in 2014.

Joseph also worked with Jesse Royal, Alborosie, Farruko, Jemere Morgan, Barbara Fialho, the Grandpickneys, and Morgan Heritage, appearing on the latter’s Grammy-winning album Strictly Roots in 2015. But of course, he often recorded with his large and talented family. Comfortable featured production by both Stephen and Damian Marley, and Joseph appeared on his father’s album, Revelation, Pt. 2: The Fruit of Life, in 2016. That same year, he teamed with his younger brother, Yohan Marley, for the single “Burn It Down,” and the brothers joined forces again in 2020 for “Brickell (When Tears Fall),” inspired by their adopted home city of Miami. In spring 2022, Joseph appeared with his uncles Ky-Mani and Julian Marley on Dominican music producer Maffio’s reggaeton track, “Blessings.”

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