Following his passing on December 27, 2022, the friends and loved ones of reggae singer Jo Mersa Marley will bid their final farewell to the musician on Tuesday in St. Andrew at the Bob Marley Museum.
Aiding in the flourishing of the Marley reggae legacy, Mersa made his musical debut in 2010 alongside his cousin, Daniel Bambaata Marley. Born to Stephen Marley and Kerry-Ann Smith (sister of former Dancehall Queen Carlene Smith), Mersa appeared on his father’s album Revelation Part 2: The Fruit of Life in 2016 and went on to collaborate with artistes such as Busy Signal and Kabaka Pyramid.
The artiste passed away in the United States in South Florida of a suspected asthma attack and is survived by his wife Qiara and their 6-year-old daughter Sunshine. He was 31 years old at the time of his death.
Like his grandfather Bob Marley, who died in 1981, Mersa will be interred at Nine Miles in St. Ann. A private, all-white vigil was held for Mersa in Florida on January 10. The private ceremony was attended by the musician’s family, fellow artistes, and close friends, including Lauryn Hill, Cham, Shaggy, and Tarrus Riley.
The marketing director for Inner Circle and a close family friend of Mersa and the Marleys, Abebe Lewis, said that the vigil’s attendees were in great spirits and that Mersa’s influence on them was evident. Lewis shared that the last time he spoke with the singer was in November, while the pair discussed a potential performance at the Art Basel show, which was attended by Ky-Mani and Julian Marley. Lewis described his friend as a natural-born leader and a genuinely good person who always tried to keep everyone in high spirits.Dancehall veteran Bounty Killer expressed his respect for Mersa and his hopes that the artiste would have a “smooth transition to zion,” sharing Mersa’s funeral programme on his Instagram page on Tuesday.
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.