Jo Mersa, born Joseph Mersa Marley in Kingston, Jamaica, has died at age 31. He was a grandson to the popular singer Bob Marley, who passed away in 1981 at 36 years old.
The young reggae singer died as a result of “asthma-related conditions, according to TMZ, though an exact cause of death has not been announced.
Per RadarOnline, Jo Mersa was found “unresponsive in his vehicle” this past Tuesday (Dec. 27).
Jo Mersa followed up his grandfather’s legacy by launching his own music career. In 2014, he debuted his EP Comfortable and later dropped his second project Eternal in 2021, releasing “Burn It Down” in between.
Featuring his brother Yohan Marley, “Burn It Down” proved to be a hit track, gaining over three million views on YouTube.
Continuing to hone in on his craft, Jo Mersa also attended Miami Dade College and took audio engineering courses while growing as a reggae musician.
He was the son of Stephen Marley, who also enjoyed a successful music career. Winning eight Grammy awards, Stephen has collaborated with a number of notable artists over the years, including Pitbull and the Fugees.
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In an interview with Reggaeville last year, Jo Mersa spoke about his latest EP and also opened up about how he and his family commemorated the “No Woman, No Cry” singer around his birthday and the anniversary of his death.
“Family-wise, you would hear memories from my father or from our uncles, you would see them posting pictures or even just speaking to us in an environment talking about ‘I remember when Daddy did this or when he came from Africa or when Daddy did this interview or when he was in Italy,’” he shared. “So, we always hear those reflections, speaking about those things, about the role that he played not only as family member and father, but also in the world and the impact he had on the Reggae community and the Reggae culture, the roots, bringing forward the message of Rastafari and love, over all love.”
Our hearts go out to the Marley family during this time. R.I.P.