Reggae legend and eight-time Grammy winner Ziggy Marley is coming to Aotearoa New Zealand next year.
Ziggy has been named as the first headline act for Womad NZ 2024 with organisers describing the news as being “a special first announcement”, with more festival acts to be announced over September and October.
After earning his first Grammy win in 1988 for Best Reggae Recording for Conscious Party, Ziggy has gone on to win seven more (and has received a total of 15 nominations over the years) as well as numerous other awards including a Daytime Emmy Award in 2013 and the UCLA George and Ira Gershwin Award for lifetime musical achievement in 2017. In 2021 he was inducted into the hall of fame for lifetime achievement at the International Reggae And World Music Awards - IRAWMA as well as receiving an Honorary Doctorate of Fine Arts from Medgar Evers College in New York.
Ziggy, who is the eldest son of Bob and Rita Marley, is a musician and producer who is as well known for his work as an activist and humanitarian as he is for his music. Over the years he has used his profile to raise awareness of a range of issues from homelessness and poverty, climate change, saving the iguanas of the Jamaican Goat Islands and promoting peace between Israeli and Palestinian communities.
In 2012, he recorded a special version of his song Personal Revolution for Rotary International’s End Polio Now compilation album, with all proceeds going towards Rotary’s campaign to help end polio. He continues to work with Rotary, raising awareness of the group’s efforts to end polio across the world.