we’re next, so we’re learning as we go,” says Skip
over the phone from Miami. “I’m always around
my mother and my uncles, so we’re always taking
steps forward, and eventually coming into our own.
But as the third generation, I think we have a lot to
offer. All of us are a piece of the puzzle.”
And as Mystic Marley, 22 , a singer-songwriter
who is one of Stephen’s daughters, puts it, being
a Marley doesn’t mean simply resting on those
laurels, either. “Our parents pushed us,” she says.
“You have to get up and be a part of something.”
“We try to instill in them that this is something
you need to take seriously,” explains Damian
Marley, 41. “It’s not to be taken for granted just be-
cause you’re coming from such a successful family
within music.”
For the Marleys, business has always been a
family affair. After Bob’s death, Rita took over the
management of Tuff Gong and the promotion of
the Marley brand and image, while Ziggy and The
Melody Makers took up the mantle on the music
side. Later, Julian and Damian began to put out
records as well, while Cedella assumed running
Tuff Gong and Rohan launched Marley Coffee. And
now, a new generation of Marleys is figuring out
how to make its mark. “There’s a huge opportunity
for us to be individuals and interpret [the legacy]
individually,” says Ziggy’s daughter Zuri Marley, 24 ,
a singer-songwriter who has collaborated with Dev
Hynes, among others. “Everyone has their goals and
it’s something to strive toward, being that great.”
Each grandchild’s parents drill certain core Mar-
ley principles into their heads — hard work, and
the importance of keeping Bob and Rita’s message
consistent. The business sense can sometimes take
a little longer to absorb. “Most of them are still in
their 20 s. I’m figuring maybe when they get to 30
I’ll grab some of them and sit them down and say,
‘Listen, this is how it goes, this is what you have to
do,’ ” says Cedella. “I’m going to let them enjoy their
20 s, because if I could have done it all over again I
would be enjoying it. But that time soon come.”
The Marley brand, as Prendergast puts it,
“means the commercialization, the globalization
effort, to keep it spreading across other borders.
But we still need to keep certain things in con-
text. We’re trying to do something greater than
ourselves. In basic terms, there are certain things
you just can’t sell out.”n 1984 , three years after Bob Marley’s death,
Island Records released Legend, which took
Marley’s music to commercial heights he
never experienced during his lifetime. It’s the
second-longest-charting album on the
Billboard 200 , currently sitting at No. 57 in its
622 nd week; on the Reggae Albums chart it’s
comfortably No. 1 , while another greatest-hits set
of his, Gold, sits at No. 6. It’s No. 7 on the Vinyl
Albums chart ( 252 weeks) and No. 2 on the
Catalog Albums chart, where it has been for 1 , 409
weeks — or over 27 years.
“If you went to the deepest Peru and showed
a picture of Bob Marley, Elvis Presley, MichaelThe scene in February at Tuff
Gong Records in Kingston, where
Bob Marley established recording
studios and a revered vinyl pressing
plant set to reopen this summer.40 BILLBOARD • APRIL 25 , 20208fea_coverstory_marleys_lo [P]_27879288.indd 40 4/22/20 3:33 PM