Sharon Marley Launches Firebird Album With Family Collaborations and Healing Sound

Sharon Marley is stepping into a new chapter with fresh songs, partnerships, and a renewed creative drive on her latest release, Firebird.

“The name Firebird is about rising from the ashes, being reborn, and seizing a chance to begin again,” she told The Sunday Gleaner in a recent interview. “At this point in my life I am reborn—not in a Christian sense—but every morning you wake up you are born again, so that track is my new focus.”

She credits her mother, Rita, as the inspiration behind that shift toward what she calls a refreshed love frequency. “My mother is my guiding post. I gave her the finished album with the cover for Mother’s Day. For me it felt like my mission was complete—having the record done and handing it to her. I give thanks I could fulfil that, because anything could have happened,” she said.

With her children now old enough to work behind the scenes, Marley said their involvement deepened the project. “The Marley and Prendergast families go way back, and my children—the Prendergasts—played a big part in making the album. My son Ingermar wrote songs on it such as Steppa, Island, and Forever, which I did with my other son, Matthew. Donisha has writing skills too, which she brought to the album, and she handles the visuals for my video,” she explained.

She described the joy of that family tie to music. “When I first went into music they were babies who rode on the Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers tour bus and would come on stage for the last song, either Look Who’s Dancing or Could You Be Loved. To see them now contributing to my solo project is amazing.”

Island, the album’s second single, is rooted in Jamaica—the land of wood and water—and that connection shaped her latest trip home. “I want to go down to Westmoreland and see some of the things my daughter has been working on there, because any money I get from Island I plan to put towards building housing opportunities for people who lost their homes due to Hurricane Melissa,” she said.

Marley stressed that Firebird breaks from her earlier work; some listeners might ask whether it counts as reggae at all. “I find I don’t only like reggae music. I like blues and jazz, so it’s a mixture I call ‘jazz-reg’ because it has a different vibe, which is just the way I like to sing.”

Fans have told her the love frequency on the record helps them settle as they absorb the rhythm and her lyrics. “It’s a deep album that pulls on your emotions and feelings. I just started working with the 422 Hertz frequency, which is a love frequency, so this album is about healing. Persons felt love coming out of it, and that is exactly what I wanted to convey. I didn’t just want to put out music for music’s sake,” she said.

Amid a wave of new reggae releases, she believes Firebird offers its own take on uplifting music. “Because I put my foot in it, it’s a different type of music than what you are used to hearing all the time. I didn’t do this album to get a Grammy or no big rating. I did it for my Mom. I miss hearing her voice, and sometimes when I sing, I do hear her voice. It may not relate to the younger people, but I find my music will be relatable to a more mature audience.”

The record also carries a message for women to pick themselves up after setbacks. “This album is for women to remind them of who they are and what it is that they really want to accomplish in life. Whatever it is, ignore the naysayer and go for it,” she said.