Mark Lane Mural

Bunny Wailer

(April 10, 1947 – March 2, 2021)

History

Born Neville O’Riley Livingston was a reggae music giant. As a member of the original Wailers trio with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer as a solo artist had a tremendous impact on many of our reggae artistes. His musical journey led him to work with the likes of Coxsone Dodd, Lee “Scratch” Perry and Jackie Mittoo. Bunny and the Wailers went through name changes such as the Teenagers, the Wailing Wailers, where they produced the hit song Simmer Down; then finally settling on the name The Wailers. Throughout the transition, the trio soon became six, to include Junior Braithwaite and backup vocalists Beverley Kelso and Cherry Smith.

By 1965, the Wailers was back to being the original trio. However, this became a period of transition for them all, as Bob married his wife Rita and joined his mother in Delaware and Livingston served a one-year prison sentence for marijuana possession. However, during that time, Wailer worked on some of his own music such as Who Feels It Knows It, I Stand Predominant, and Sunday Morning. Bunny’s style of music was influenced by gospel music and soul singer Curtis Mayfield.

History cont'd

Through Bunny’s career with the Wailers, he tended to sing lead vocals less often than Marley and Tosh. However, this changed when producers saw the potential in his lyrics and noted that they were carefully crafted and his voice made up part of the group’s distinctive harmonies. He then sang lead on songs such as Dreamland, Riding High, Keep on Moving among others.

By 1973 each of the Wailers now operated their own label, Bob with Tuff Gong, Tosh with H.I.M. Intel Diplo and Bunny Wailer with Solomonic. The Wailers toured the US and the UK together, however Bunny’s heart was always home, in Jamaica. As the Wailers became more internationally recognized, attention became focused on Marley. It was then that Livingston left the Wailers.

Throughout his solo career, Livingston explored differently styles in his music such as roots, disco, pop and even dancehall. While no longer being a part of the Wailers, he had the backing of musicians Sly and Robbie. Wailer later won the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album three times:

1991 for Time Will Tell: A Tribute to Bob Marley
1995 for Crucial! Roots Classics
1997 for Hall of Fame: A Tribute to Bob Marley’s 50th Anniversary
He was also featured on Toots and the Maytals album True Love which won the Grammy in 2004 for Best Reggae Album
In 2012 and 2019 Bunny Wailer received two National Honours, the Order of Jamaica and Order of Merit, respectively

In 2018, Wailer suffered a minor stroke which impacted his speech. He suffered a second one in July 2020 and was hospitalized. He later died on March 2, 2021 from complications from the second stroke.