Joining Rhianna, Rufus Wainwright and the Cure in their endeavors to fight AIDS thorugh fashion, acclaimed reggae artist Ziggy Marley recently designed a t-shirt for H&M's Fashion Against AIDS campaign. The promotion features clothing designed by various celebrities with the purpose of spreading awareness about HIV/AIDS. Designers Against AIDS founder Ninette Murk recently stated that Ziggy's shirt is one of the organization's top three best-sellers.
Adorned with the title of his most recent album, Love is My Religion, the shirt is designed in the Rastafarian colors of green, red and gold. "The words say enough and mean enough that I think it was appropriate to keep those words on the forefront, instead of doing something like a drawing," he told the San Francisco Chronicle. "I don't want 'Love Is My Religion' to be identified just as the title of my Grammy-winning album, because it means more than that...'Love is My Religion' is a new way of thinking about that whole spiritual realm and the whole concept of what religion is."
Ziggy also stated that he was particularly concerned about the lack of AIDS awareness on his native soil. "I think it's still kind of taboo to deal with that issue in Jamaica," he lamented. "I don't think the publicity or even (awareness) of the spread of the sickness has been widely happening in Jamaica." It's safe to say that his contribution to Fashion Against AIDS is a constructive step towards raising AIDS awareness in Jamaica.
Prior to his involvement with Fashion Against AIDS, Ziggy has been noted for his charity work and social consciousness. In 2005, he lent his image to the Aldo Shoes Fight Against AIDS ad campaign, and he more recently became an official supporter of nonprofit organization Little Kids Rock, which provides musical instruments and lessons to children in US public schools. As an honorary member, he sits in on the organization's board meetings and meets with children in the program.
The oldest son of Bob and Rita Marley, David Nesta "Ziggy" Marley was born October 17, 1968 in Trenchtown, Jamaica. As a teenager, Ziggy founded the Melody Makers with three of his siblings and launched a successful recording career that included ten albums and three Grammy wins. In 2003, he embarked on a solo career with his first album outside the Melody Makers, Dragonfly, which reached the top three on Billboard's Top Reggae Albums. The follow-up, Love is My Religion, was released in 2006 on Tuff Gong and won the Grammy award for Best Reggae Album.