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Bunny Wailer, a reggae lamp who was the last surviving founding member of the legendary group The Wailers, died on Tuesday in his native Jamaica. He was 73.
Wailer, a baritone singer with the birth name Neville Livingston, formed The Wailers with the late superstars Bob Marley and Peter Tosh in 1963 when they lived in a slum in the capital of Kingston. They catapulted to international fame with the album “Catch a Fire” and also helped to popularize the Rastafarian culture among the wealthy Jamaicans, which began in the 1970s.
“Jah-B was a vanguard and always pushed the boundaries of expression, whether in song, in style or in spoken words,” said Brian Paul Welsh, a local reggae musician known as Blvk H3ro. “There was and can only ever be one Neville Livingston.”
Wailer is being treated at Andrews Memorial Hospital in Jamaican Township. Andrew died of complications from a stroke he suffered in July, manager Maxine Stowe told The Associated Press.
His death was mourned worldwide while people shared music, memories and photos of the famous artist.
“The death of Bunny Wailer, the last of the original Wailers, brings an end to the liveliest period of Jamaica’s musical experience,” Jamaican politician Peter Phillips wrote in a Facebook post. “Bunny was a good, conscious Jamaican brother.”
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Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness also paid tribute to Wailer, calling him a ‘respected older statesman of the Jamaican music scene’ in a series of tweets.
“This is a huge loss for Jamaica and for Reggae, Bunny Wailer will undoubtedly always be remembered for his outstanding contribution to the music industry and Jamaica’s culture,” he wrote.
While touring the world, Wailer was more at home in Jamaica’s mountains and enjoyed farming while writing and recording songs on his label, Solomonic.
“I think I actually like the country a little bit more than the city,” Wailer told The Associated Press in 1989. ″ It has more to do with life, health and strength. The city sometimes takes it away. The country is good for meditation. It has fresh food and fresh atmosphere – it keeps you going. ″
A year earlier, in 1988, he had rented a plane and flown with food to Jamaica to help those affected by Hurricane Gilbert.
″ Sometimes people pay less attention to the things (food), but it seems to be the most important things. I’m a farmer, ‘he told the 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.
