Jamaican reggae legend Bunny Wailer is dead
Bunny Wailer in concert in 2005 to celebrate Bob Marley's 60th birthday.
© AP / Collin Reid
Text by: RFI Follow
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Jamaican Culture Minister Olivia Grange announced the death of Jamaican singer and percussionist Bunny Wailer in a statement.
Founder with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh of The Wailers, he died this Tuesday at the age of 73 at Andrew's Memorial Hospital in Kingston.
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He was the last of the Wailers.
The one who, along with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh, made reggae a worldwide phenomenon.
Bunny Wailer died on Tuesday at the age of 73.
The cause of his death was not disclosed.
Real name Neville Livingston, the musician suffered a first stroke in 2018, then a second in July 2020.
Born in 1947 in Nine Mile, in the north of Jamaica, Bunny Wailer met there, since childhood, Bob Marley, with whom he befriended.
Later, her father would become the companion of Bob Marley's mother.
They will move to Trench Town, a district of Kingston, where they will be influenced by their meeting with Joe Higgs, considered by many to be the "father of reggae", who will encourage them to form a first trio with Peter Tosh.
The group changed their name several times, before releasing their debut album in 1965,
The Wailing Wailers
.
It marks the emergence of a sound, with a devilish rhythm, marked by American music, in particular R&B, but also by Jamaican culture.
A decisive role
A charismatic character, always wearing a beard and a hat, follower of the principles of the Rastafarian religious movement, Bunny Wailer plays a decisive role in the development of this musical identity.
The Wailers will release several more albums before starting their collaboration with producer Chris Blackwell.
The founder of the Island Records label will significantly change the sound of the group, to give it a more electric sound likely to please, according to him, a more international audience.
Bunny Wailer will be
Catch a Fire
and
Burnin '
albums
, which will turn reggae into a major musical movement.
But he will then leave the group, as will Peter Tosh, tired of a role of Bob Marley's foil in which he felt locked up.
He will then launch his solo career with the album
Blackheart Man
, considered today as a classic of the genre.
During the 1990s, he received three Grammy Awards, the awards of the American music industry, including two for the reggae album of the year.
(
With
AFP)
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