When Patrick Chung was 2, he was too young to know his mother was one of the biggest reggae stars in Jamaica.

Sophia George’s 1985 hit “Girlie Girlie’’ had the combination of bounce and breeze that kept it atop Jamaica’s charts for 11 weeks. It cracked the top 10 in the UK.

It was the breakout record in a long career for George, five albums over 10 years.

She traveled the world performing, her husband Ronald Chung beside her as her manager.

By the time Patrick Chung was old enough to grasp how big of an artist his mom had become, his parents had started a different life, moving with their three children to Miami, then eventually settling in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.

But whenever he looks at photos or videos of her performing, he says it’s like traveling back to a time when his mom was a star.

“It was old school, but she was rocking, bro,’’ Chung said. “She was on stage, Converse on, mix-matched clothes. Just rocking, bro. She was a star. It’s dope to see as a kid, seeing your mom doing that stuff. I was young, but it’s good to know that my mom, she was that deal.’’

As much as he watched the way his mother commanded a stage, he paid close attention to how she handled stardom. Fame being so fleeting, she stayed grounded in family. It’s something Chung has carried with him during his eight-year NFL career as football has taken him to similar heights.

“With the football stuff like handling the fame, the attention, my parents definitely helped me with that as far as keeping a level head and staying humble,’’ Chung said. “They raised me right with the things they’ve been through, the ups and downs of fame, I guess.’’

As much as hard hits, relentless tackling, and consistency are ingrained in Chung, music is still very much at his core.

Growing up, he’d hear his mom’s voice, along with Bob Marley and Beenie Man, playing constantly. Now he listens to a new wave of reggae stars, from Vybz Cartel to Popcaan.

“Music’s a huge stress reliever,’’ Chung said. “You can use it as an outlet. If you’re having a bad day, good day, whatever kind of day you’re having, there’s always a song out there that you can relate to and maybe you can just get out of your funk or whatever you’re doing that day.’’

Genre doesn’t matter to Chung. He’ll listen to everything from country to hip-hop. When teammate Nate Ebner expressed skepticism to that claim, Chung quickly shot back, “Zac Brown Band?’’

Chung said he tried his hand at the guitar. “That might’ve been the hardest thing I’ve ever done,’’ he said.

But he found songwriting more natural. If Chung catches a spark, he’ll pen lyrics.

Chung grew up an hour outside of Los Angeles, the epicenter of entertainment. Earlier this year, a study by the Los Angeles Unified School District graded the arts programs at 700 schools and found that only 35 would get an “A.’’

Locally, there was an outcry this year when Boston’s mayor, Marty Walsh, proposed to slash the Massachusetts Cultural Council’s budget by 55 percent. The ramifications create an equity gap in which schools and organizations in poorer neighborhoods are hit the hardest.

The issue hit home for Chung, and he used his Chung Changing Lives foundation to help.

In 2015, he created a six-week summer camp that gave teens an opportunity to explore music writing, production, instruments, and videos.

“The arts nowadays, there’s a lot of stuff that kids want to learn and it’s hard for some schools to keep arts,’’ Chung said. “It’s hard to do. You don’t know who to blame for it, but it’s just something hard to do. So kids can’t afford certain instruments. They can’t afford to do certain things.

“So I just went out there and said, ‘Hey, I’m going to make a free camp where kids that have musical talents and no one knows about because they don’t have any resources, why not make a free camp where kids can go out there and just show what they’ve got?’ ’’

More than three decades after “Girlie Girlie’’ ran up the charts, Sophia George is far removed from life in the spotlight, settled in California, where she worked for a medical management company.

But her voice still carries.

Whenever Chung’s birthday comes around, he gets a call from his mother and he knows to expect a special song as soon as he answers.

“She’s still got it,’’ Chung said. “So don’t think it’s gone.’’

Julian Benbow can be reached at jbenbow@globe.com.