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Bunny Wailer, a reggae luminaire who was the last surviving founding member of the legendary group The Wailers, died Tuesday in his native Jamaica. He was 73 years old.
Wailer, a baritone singer whose birth name is Neville Livingston, formed The Wailers in 1963 with the late superstars Bob Marley and Peter Tosh when they lived in a slum in the capital, Kingston. They catapulted international fame with the album “Catch a Fire” and also helped popularize Rastafarian culture among wealthier Jamaicans since the 1970s.
“Jah-B has been a vanguard, always pushing the boundaries of expression, whether in song, style or speech,” said Brian Paul Welsh, a local reggae musician known as Blvk H3ro. “There has been, and may never be, one Neville Livingston.”
Wailer died at Andrews Memorial Hospital in the Jamaican parish of St. Andrew due to complications due to a stroke in July, manager Maxine Stowe told The Associated Press.
His death was mourned around the world, as people shared music, memories and pictures of the famous artist.
“The passing of Bunny Wailer, the last of the original Wailers, puts an end to the most vibrant period of Jamaica’s musical experience,” Jamaican politician Peter Phillips wrote in a Facebook post. “The bunny was a good, conscious Jamaican brother.”
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Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness paid tribute to Wailer, calling him “an old-fashioned respected Jamaican statesman,” in a series of tweets.
“This is a great loss for Jamaica and Reggae, no doubt Bunny Wailer will always be remembered for his sterile contribution to the Jamaican music industry and culture,” he wrote.
While Wailer toured around the world, he was more at home in the mountains of Jamaica and enjoyed the farm while writing and recording songs on his label, Solomonic.
“I think I really love the country a little more than the city,” Wailer told the Associated Press in 1989. “It has more to do with life, health and strength. The city takes this sometimes. The country is good for meditation. It has fresh food and a fresh atmosphere – which keeps you moving. ”
A year earlier, in 1988, he had flown a plane and flown to Jamaica with food to help those affected by Hurricane Gilbert.
“Sometimes people pay less attention to those things (food), but they turn out to be the most important things. I’m a farmer, “he told AP.
He was the third and last original Wailer. Marley died of a brain tumor in 1981 at the age of 36, and Tosh was shot dead in Jamaica in 1987 at the age of 42.
