Memorial service for Peetah Morgan on March 7 in Florida

The memorial service for Morgan Heritage lead singer, Peetah Morgan, will be held on March 7 in Orlando, Florida, at a venue to be announced, the family has confirmed. Details include that there will be a public viewing starting at 3 p.m.; the service at 4 to 6 p.m.; a lantern lighting at 6:15 to 6:30 p.m. and the repast at 7 to 10 p.m.

In a social media post, Morgan Heritage further stated, “In this life, live for the cause and your name will live forever. So do JAH work and be remembered. These are the words of the great Peter ‘Peetah’ Anthony Morgan. Join us on March 7 in #Orlando, #Florida as we join hearts and hands in his remembrance. #Heritage4Life.”

Last Sunday, Morgan Heritage sent shock waves throughout the reggae-loving world and beyond when they announced Peetah’s passing. Tributes poured in from across the globe and simultaneously, there was also a surge in sales and streams of songs from the catalogue of the Grammy Award-winning sibling group.

“Bitter-sweet” is the word Sean ‘Contractor’ Edwards, music marketer and publicist for Morgan Heritage, used to describe the uptick in sales and streaming numbers which was in effect early this week on the daily-updated iTunes Top 100 Reggae Songs and Reggae Albums charts, as well as other platforms.

“Morgan Heritage’s music has seen a surge of sales and streams in the USA in reggae second only to [that of] Bob Marley. Most definitely Peetah’s passing has contributed to this,” Edwards told The Gleaner. “On the USA iTunes Reggae album charts this week, Morgan Heritage had five albums with Legacy peaking at number 7. The other albums were Strictly Roots, Morgan Heritage Live in Amsterdam, More Teachings and Reggae Masterpiece. On the USA iTunes reggae songs chart they had Down by the River, She’s Still Loving Me, Tell Me How Come and Don’t Haffi Dread,” the publicist outlined.

MULTIPLE ALBUMS

He explained that normally when the group puts out new music, such as the singles from their latest album, Homeland, as well as the Homeland album itself, it would appear on the charts. However, they normally don’t have multiple old albums and singles on the charts at the same time.

“It is a bitter-sweet moment ... it’s in death that we realise how big Morgan Heritage really is. The news of Peetah Morgan’s death was reported in the New York Times, CBS News, ABC News, the Associated Press, RollingStone, People Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, Fox News, Washington Post, Daily Beast and BET.com. Since these are some of the major media networks in the States you can see why Morgan Heritage has a surge in sales and streams in the USA,” Edwards said.

With regard to data on streaming platforms, as well as other charts, he shared that there has been a surge in streaming on Apple Music in Sierra Leone and Deezer streaming in Kenya.

“The single I’m Coming Home surged in streaming in Gambia, Kenya, Uganda, Senegal, and Tanzania. The single A Man in Love hit number 5 in Dominica since Peetah’s passing. Tell me How Come hit top 40 in Dominica, British Virgin Islands,” Edwards said.

Formed in 1994 by five children of reggae legend, Denroy Morgan, Morgan Heritage initially comprised Peetah, Una, Gramps, Lukes and Mr Mojo. Acknowledged as “reggae royalty” their debut album, Miracle, was released in 1994 on MCA and 19 years later, with the release of Strictly Roots in 2015, on their own independent label CTBC Music Group, Morgan Heritage won their first Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album. In 2017, Morgan Heritage was nominated for their second Grammy Award with Avrakedabra, and they continued the momentum with Loyalty, which was released in 2019.

They have toured internationally and released more than one dozen albums, collecting awards and accolades along their journey. Recently the group was reduced to three members, namely Peetah, Gramps and Mr Mojo.

Peter ‘Peetah’ Anthony Morgan is survived by his wife, Maria Gunabe-Morgan, 11 children, and two grandchildren.

yasmine.peru@gleanerjm.com