Marissa Lelogeais returns for second Marley birthday

REGGAE SINGER Marissa Lelogeais and her band, The Merry Rockers, returned to the stage on Thursday, February 6 for her second Bob Marley birthday concert at the Bob Marley Museum at 56 Hope Road in St Andrew. She is lead vocalist and band leader. The event was one of the activities to celebrate the 80th birthday of reggae icon Robert Nesta Marley.

Lelogeais had also performed at the 75th anniversary concert in 2020. Her rise to the reggae stage is a story of triumph and redemption, for someone who was born at 27 weeks, weighing one and a half pounds, with cerebral palsy, low vision, and several other cognitive challenges.

After seven surgeries, Lelogeais began walking at age nine, started school first in a wheelchair, moved up with a walker, then with canes and braces. There were many hours of physical and occupational therapy.

As a child and young adult, she was self-conscious of her physical appearance, which made her angry and scared. Singing and listening to music would pull her from the anger and the many bouts of being in the doldrums.

“During my childhood and as a young adult, I hated my body and my CP (cerebral palsy). Five years ago, I was overweight, depressed and hope was a mere flicker. But I dug down deep to the burning core of me. I joined a weight loss community and have lost and maintained my weight,” Lelogeais says in Cerebral Palsy Alliance Research Foundation online article of Thursday, August 24, 2023.

“Then, during the COVID lockdown, I joined an online fitness community, which drastically changed my outlook on my body. Now, my CP doesn’t define me. I’m able to walk into any situation with my head held high and a smile on my face no matter what struggles may await me.”

Now, she identifies as a woman with “alter abilities”. She was inspired to be a singer when she was about five years old, after watching the Broadway show, Peter Pan, with her parents. She was so thrilled by the performers that, during the intermission, she looked at her parents, pointed to the stage, and told them she would become a singer.

“I purchased the cast recording and listened to it on my Discman on repeat. The rest, as they say, is history,” she shares. History indeed, but it took Lelogeais a while to become the singer she wanted to be.

First, she had to overcome looking on the ground when she was having a conversation with teachers and peers. This was because of her low vision. But, her mother noticed that the only time she was not looking down was when she was singing. This led her to contact a voice coach in New York City for voice lessons.

“My posture improved dramatically, and music became the only thing that I wanted to do,” she also shares.

One of Lelogeais’ biggest achievements is attending Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. That is where she met the members of her band, and earned a professional diploma with a concentration in music therapy. She is also yet to get over the opportunity to perform at the Bob Marley’s 75th birthday celebration at 56 Hope Road in 2020. But, why reggae music for someone who also loves musical theatre?

“If you ask her, she will say, her ‘life is music, and music is her life’. While studying at Berklee College of Music, she was so moved by the music and story of Bob Marley and the people of Jamaica that she decided to write and record roots reggae music. Since then, Lelogeais has even had the opportunity to travel to Jamaica and immerse herself in their music and culture,” her MarissaLelogeaisOneSheet says.

To a follow-up question from The Gleaner, her manager, Ian Miller, said, “So touched by what Bob Marley had done for the world that she took classes about his music. Found that reggae music is the most accepting of all communities.”

Thus, the experience at the 2020 concert was “a dream come through”. The Bob Marley Foundation graciously invited me after I sent outreach to them, and I felt so blessed for the opportunity,” Lelogeais told The Gleaner.

After the show on Thursday, her manager told The Gleaner that Marissa and her band “took the stage … to an enthusiastic audience of reggae music lovers”.

“From babies to grandparents, all age ranges were treated to a medley of both Bob Marley’s music with few original tunes. One of their songs, cowritten by stage compatriot Aaron Nigel Smith, is called ‘Reggaebility’, an homage to all people having their different abilities but unified through reggae music. The group boldly performed and received a positive response from all,” Miller says.