BUNNY WAILER,
1947-2021

Reggae legend Bunny Wailer, an original member of The Wailers with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh, died today at the Medical Associates Hospital in Kingston, Jamaica. He was 73.

No cause was given, but the Jamaica Observer reported that Wailer had been in and out of the hospital since his second stroke in July 2020.

Born Neville O’Riley Livingston, Wailer, Marley and Tosh formed the Wailing Wailers in 1963 and recorded several ska singles including the classic “Simmer Down” in the early ’60s. Mostly a harmony singer, he can nonetheless be heard singing lead on 1967’s Curtis Mayfield-inspired “This Train.”

Wailer left the group in 1973, preferring not to tour. He recorded more than a dozen albums (many of which did not receive international distribution), working in the roots and dancehall styles. He often re-recorded songs by The Wailers.

He won three Grammy Awards in the reggae album category: the first for 1990’s Time Will Tell–A Tribute to Bob Marley, then for 1994’s Crucial! Roots Classics and finally for 1995’s Hall of Fame: A Tribute to Bob Marley’s 50th Anniversary.