Trenchtown Rock x 30 Rock: Bob Marley Tribute Week on Jimmy Fallon

Words by Jesse Serwer

This Wednesday, May 11, will mark 30 years since the earthly passing of one Robert Nesta Marley. While fans across the globe will celebrate Bob’s legacy this week, the most intriguing tribute we’ve heard about is the one that Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, and its trusty house band the Roots, will be staging every night. Last week, it was announced that Ziggy Marley (who kicks things off tonight), Chris Cornell (Tuesday), Jennifer Hudson (Wednesday), Jakob Dylan (Thursday) and Lenny Kravitz (Friday) will all perform musical tributes to Bob on the show this week. Turns out that Sir Keith Richards and Lauryn Hill (who has given birth to five of Bob’s grandkids with his son, Rohan) will both also be stopping by 30 Rockefeller, on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. Richards is not technically scheduled to perform—he’ll be giving an interview about his role in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and his recent autobiography, Life—but we highly doubt the avowed Jamaicaphile will pass on the opportunity.

We might have picked a slightly different lineup (It’s a bit surprising not to find Stephen Marley, in New York this week to promote his upcoming album, Revelation Pt. 1: The Root of Life, or his brother Damian on the list), but there’s a lot to be said about a cast of hitters this heavy paying their respects to Bob in this forum. In fact, it might be the the biggest close-up that late-night TV has ever shined on reggae music, so you know we’ll be up watching every evening—or at least catching it on TiVo the next morning.