Jo Mersa Marley, Son Of Stephen Marley & Grandson Of Bob Marley, Dead At 31

Joseph “Jo Mersa” Marley, the grandson of Bob Marley, son of Stephen Marley, and a musician in his own right, died on Tuesday. He was 31.

Though no official cause of death was released with the announcement, TMZ reports that he died from asthma-related conditions.

Mersa was born in Jamaica on March 11th, 1991 and moved to Miami at age 11. He studied studio engineering at Miami Dade College and released his first single, a collaboration with Daniel Bambaata Marley (son of Ziggy Marley) called “My Girl”, in 2010. Jo Mersa developed a musical relationship with his cousin Daniel during childhood when the two were often tasked with singing “Look Who’s Dancing” with Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers during live performances.

Marley pursued his own musical path, releasing his first EP, Comfortable, in 2014. In 2015, he appeared on Morgan Heritage‘s Grammy-winning album Strictly Roots as well as his father’s 2016 LP, Revelation Part 2: The Fruit of Life, and Yohan Marley‘s single “Burn It Down” that same year. Jo Mersa’s second EP, Eternal, arrived in 2021.

“I am one of the new generation of Marleys, but I am still experimenting at the same time,” Mersa told Rolling Stone in a 2014 interview. “My plan is to do something new with my roots.”