Skip Marley, the grandson of reggae legend, Bob Marley, has done something no one in Jamaica’s royal family has ever done, land a top ten spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
That’s right. The 20-year-old Skip, on his first major collaboration, achieved what more acclaimed Marleys like Grammy winners Damian, Stephen and Ziggy, as well as Bob, could not as his joint effort, Chained To The Rhythm with American songstress, Katy Perry, debuted at number four on the Hot 100 chart. The song was released on February 10 by Capitol Records, two days before they performed it at the 59th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. Chained To The Rhythm also ranks third on the iTunes chart and seventh on the U.K. pop chart. Bob Marley made the U.K. pop chart eight times, but none of Damian, Stephen or Ziggy have ever done so.
Shockingly, Bob only cracked the Billboard Hot 100 once, when Roots Rock Reggae peaked at number 51 in 1976.
Before Skip’s feat, Ziggy Marley had the family’s best placing on the Hot 100 from his days as lead singer of Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers when Tomorrow People placed 39th on the chart in 1988.
Junior Gong peaked at number 55 on the chart in 2005 with his smash hit, Welcome To Jamrock.
Skip Marley is the son of Bob Marley’s daughter, former Melody Makers singer and fashion designer, Cedella Marley.