Neville O'Riley Livingston (10 April 1947 – 2 March 2021), known professionally as Bunny Wailer, was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and

percussionist A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

. He was an original member of

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

group

The Wailers ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

along with

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements ...

and

Peter Tosh Winston Hubert McIntosh, OM (19 October 1944 – 11 September 1987), professionally known as Peter Tosh, was a Jamaican reggae musician. Along with Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer, he was one of the core members of the band the Wailers (1963 ...

. A three-time

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...

winner, he is considered one of the longtime standard-bearers of reggae music. He was also known as Jah B, Bunny O'Riley, and Bunny Livingston.

Early life and family

Wailer was born Neville O'Riley Livingston on 10 April 1947 in Kingston. He spent his earliest years in the village of Nine Mile in

Saint Ann Parish Saint Ann is the largest parish in Jamaica. It is situated on the north coast of the island, in the county of Middlesex, roughly halfway between the eastern and western ends of the island. It is often called "the Garden Parish of Jamaica" on ac ...

. It was there that he first met

, and the two young boys befriended each other quickly. The boys both came from single-parent families; Livingston was brought up by his father, Marley by his mother. Later, Wailer's father Thaddeus "Thaddy Shut" Livingston lived with Marley's mother Cedella Booker in

Trenchtown Trench Town (also Trenchtown) is a neighbourhood located in the parish of St. Andrew, part of which is in Kingston, the capital and largest city of Jamaica. In the 1960s, Trench Town was known as the Hollywood of Jamaica. Today Trench Town is ...

and had a daughter with her named Pearl Livingston.

had a son, Andrew Tosh, with Wailer's sister Shirley, making Andrew his nephew.

The Wailers

Wailer had originally gone to audition for

Leslie Kong Leslie Kong (20 December 1933 – 9 August 1971) was an influential Chinese-Jamaican reggae producer. Career Leslie and his two older brothers Cecil and Lloyd ran a restaurant, ice cream parlour and record shop called Beverley's in Orange Stre ...

at Beverley's Records in 1962, around the same time his step-brother Bob Marley was cutting "Judge Not". Wailer had intended to sing his first composition, "Pass It On", which at the time was more ska-oriented. However, Wailer was late getting out of school and missed his audition. A few months later, in 1963, he formed "The Wailing Wailers" with Marley and friend Peter Tosh, and the short-term members Junior Braithwaite and Beverley Kelso. Wailer tended to sing lead vocals less often than Marley and Tosh in the early years, but when Marley left Jamaica in 1966 for

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent ...

in the US, and was briefly replaced by Constantine "Vision" Walker, Wailer began to record and sing lead vocals on some of his own compositions, such as "Who Feels It Knows It", "I Stand Predominant", and "Sunday Morning". Wailer's style of music was influenced by

gospel music Gospel music is a traditional genre of Christian music, and a cornerstone of Christian media. The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of gospel music varies according to culture and social context. Gospel music is co ...

and the soul singer

Curtis Mayfield Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer, and one of the most influential musicians behind soul and politically conscious African-American music.

. In 1967, he recorded "This Train", based on a gospel standard, for the first time, at Studio One. Wailer was arrested on charges of possession of

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: '' Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternative ...

in June 1967 and served a 14-month prison sentence.Singing the jailhouse rock
''

Jamaica Observer ''Jamaica Observer'' is a daily newspaper published in Kingston, Jamaica. The publication is owned by Butch Stewart, who chartered the paper in January 1993 as a competitor to Jamaica's oldest daily paper, ''The Gleaner ''The Gleaner'' is an ...

'', Published 25 November 2012. Retrieved 25 November 2012 Around this time he, Bob Marley, and Peter Tosh signed an exclusive recording agreement with Danny Sim's JAD Records and an exclusive publishing agreement with Sim's music publishing company Cayman Music. As the Wailers regularly changed producers in the late 1960s, Wailer continued to contribute songs to the group's repertoire. The music critic

Kwame Dawes Kwame Senu Neville Dawes (born 28 July 1962) is a Ghanaian poet, actor, editor, critic, musician, and former Louis Frye Scudder Professor of Liberal Arts at the University of South Carolina. He is now Professor of English at the University of N ...

says that Wailer's song lyrics were carefully crafted and literary in style, and he remained a key part of the group's distinctive harmonies. Wailer sang lead on such songs as "Dreamland" (a cover of El Tempos' "My Dream Island", which soon became his signature song) "Riding High", "Brainwashing", and in the bridge of the Wailers' song, "Keep On Moving" (sung in the style of Curtis Mayfield of

the Impressions The Impressions were an American music group originally formed in 1958. Their repertoire includes gospel, doo-wop, R&B, and soul. The group was founded as the Roosters by Chattanooga, Tennessee natives Sam Gooden, Richard Brooks and Arthur Bro ...

), produced by

Lee "Scratch" Perry Lee "Scratch" Perry (born Rainford Hugh Perry; 20 March 1936 – 29 August 2021) was a Jamaican record producer, composer and singer noted for his innovative studio techniques and production style. Perry was a pioneer in the 1970s development o ...

. In 1971, the Wailers recorded Bunny Wailer's song "Pass It On", which he said he wrote in 1962; it was released as a

dubplate A dubplate is an acetate disc usually of 10 inches diameter, traditionally used by Recording studio, studios to test recordings prior to Audio mastering, mastering for the subsequent pressing of a vinyl record, but pioneered by reggae Reggae sound ...

mix on JAD's "Original Cuts" compilation. This version of the song features different lyrics and music in the verses to the later versions of "Pass It On" – Wailer would later reuse these in "Innocent Blood". By 1973, each of the three founding Wailers operated his own label, Marley with

Tuff Gong Tuff Gong is the brand name associated with a number of businesses started by Bob Marley and Rita Marley#Children, the Marley family. 'Tuff Gong' comes from Marley's nickname, which was in turn an echo of that given to founder of the Rastafari ...

, Tosh with H.I.M. Intel Diplo, and Bunny Wailer with Solomonic. He sang lead vocals on "Reincarnated Souls", the B-side of the Wailers first

Island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An isla ...

single of the new era, and on two tracks on the Wailers last trio LP, "''Burnin": "Pass it On" and "Hallelujah Time". By now he was recording singles in his own right, cutting "Searching For Love", "Life Line", "Trod On", "Arab Oil Weapon", and "Pass It On" (a new recording of the Wailers song) for his own label. Bunny Wailer toured with the Wailers in England and the United States, but soon became reluctant to leave Jamaica. He and Tosh were more marginalised in the group as the Wailers attained international success, and attention was increasingly focused on Marley. Wailer subsequently left the Wailers in 1973 and adopted the name "Bunny" in pursuit of a solo career after balking when

Chris Blackwell Christopher Percy Gordon Blackwell (born 22 June 1937) is an English businessman and former record producer, and the founder of Island Records, which has been called "one of Britain's great independent labels". According to the Rock and Roll ...

wanted the Wailers to tour freak clubs in the United States, stating that it was against his

Rastafari Rastafari, sometimes called Rastafarianism, is a religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by scholars of religion. There is no central authority in control o ...

principles. Before leaving the Wailers, Wailer had become more focused on his spiritual faith. He identified with the Rastafari movement, as did the other Wailers. He also composed much of his own material as well as re-recording a number of cuts from the Wailers' catalogue. Wailer recorded primarily in the

roots A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients. Root or roots may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusing ...

style, in keeping with his often political and spiritual messages; his album '' Blackheart Man'' was well received. According to the journalist Peter Mason, writing in the Guardian newspaper, Blackheart Man "is widely felt to be one of reggae’s highest peaks".

Solo career

After leaving the Wailers, Wailer experimented with

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric p ...

on his album ''Hook Line & Sinker'', while ''Sings the Wailers'' reworks many of The Wailers songs with the backing of Jamaican session musicians,

Sly and Robbie Sly and Robbie were a prolific Jamaican rhythm section and production duo, associated primarily with the reggae and dub genres. Drummer Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare teamed up in the mid-1970s after establishing themselves separa ...

. He also had success recording in the typically apolitical, more pop,

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The R ...

style. Wailer's music had dancehall and rockers influences, best exemplified by the album ''Bunny Wailer Sings the Wailers'' on which he reinterpreted some of the Wailers material as a solo roots singer with roots reggae-based backing by Sly and Robbie. The album, produced by Bunny Wailer, was recorded at

Harry J Studio Harry Zephaniah Johnson (6 July 1945 – 3 April 2013), known by the stage name Harry J, was a Jamaican reggae record producer. Biography Born in Westmoreland Parish, Jamaica, Johnson started to play music with the Virtues as a bass player be ...

. Some of these tracks are reworked classic Wailers tracks such as "Dreamland", a cover of El Tempos' "My Dream Island" with slightly reworked lyrics that became Bunny's signature song. This was recorded in 1966 by Clement Coxsone Dodd, and in 1972 with

; it was released as a 7" in 1971 with a

U-Roy Ewart Beckford OD (21 September 1942 – 17 February 2021), known by the stage name U-Roy, was a Jamaican vocalist and pioneer of toasting.Jo-Ann GreeneU-Roy Biography, AllMusic. Retrieved 11 April 2013. U-Roy was known for a melodic style ...

version on the B-side. Another classic is "Dancing Shoes", first recorded in the mid-1960s as a driving ska/soul classic with Bunny Wailer on lead vocals. Wailer won the

Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album The Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1985 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality works in the reggae music genre. Honors in sev ...

three times; in 1991 for the album ''Time Will Tell: A Tribute to Bob Marley'', in 1995 for ''Crucial! Roots Classics'', and in 1997 for ''Hall of Fame: A Tribute to Bob Marley's 50th Anniversary''. He was also featured on the album ''True Love'' by

Toots and the Maytals The Maytals, known from 1972 to 2020 as Toots and the Maytals, are a Jamaican musical group, one of the best known ska and rocksteady vocal groups. The Maytals were formed in the early 1960s and were key figures in popularizing reggae music. ...

, which won the Grammy Award in 2004 for Best Reggae Album, and showcased many notable musicians including;

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American country musician. The critical success of the album ''Shotgun Willie'' (1973), combined with the critical and commercial success of ''Red Headed Stranger'' (1975) and ''Stardust'' (1978 ...

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list o ...

Jeff Beck Geoffrey Arnold Beck (born 24 June 1944) is an English rock guitarist. He rose to prominence with the Yardbirds and after fronted the Jeff Beck Group and Beck, Bogert & Appice. In 1975, he switched to a mainly instrumental style, with a fo ...

Trey Anastasio Ernest Joseph "Trey" Anastasio III (born September 30, 1964) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Phish, which he co-founded in 1983. He is credited by name as composer of 152 Phish o ...

Gwen Stefani Gwen Renée Stefani (; born October 3, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, fashion designer and actress. She is a co-founder, lead vocalist, and the primary songwriter of the band No Doubt, whose singles include " Just a Girl", " Spiderweb ...

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Ben Harper Benjamin Chase Harper (born October 28, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Harper plays an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae, and rock music and is known for his guitar-playing skills, vocals, live perfo ...

Bonnie Raitt Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American blues singer and guitarist. In 1971, Raitt released her self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed roots-influenced albums that incorporated ...

Manu Chao Manu Chao (; born José-Manuel Thomas Arthur Chao on 21 June 1961) is a French-Spanish singer. He sings in French, Spanish, English, Italian, Arabic, Catalan, Galician, Portuguese, Greek, and occasionally in other languages. Chao began his mu ...

The Roots The Roots are an American hip hop band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy F ...

Ryan Adams David Ryan Adams (born November 5, 1974) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, artist, and poet. He has released 23 albums, as well as three studio albums as a former member of alt-country band Whiskeytown. In 2000, Adams lef ...

Keith Richards Keith Richards (born 18 December 1943), often referred to during the 1960s and 1970s as "Keith Richard", is an English musician and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the co-founder, guitarist, secondary vocalist, and co-princi ...

, Toots Hibbert,

Paul Douglas Paul Howard Douglas (March 26, 1892 – September 24, 1976) was an American politician and Georgist economist. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as a U.S. Senator from Illinois for eighteen years, from 1949 to 1967. During his Senat ...

, Jackie Jackson,

Ken Boothe Kenneth George Boothe OD (born 22 March 1948) is a Jamaican vocalist known for his distinctive vibrato and timbre. Boothe achieved an international reputation as one of Jamaica's finest vocalists through a series of crossover hits that appeal ...

, and The Skatalites. In August 2012, it was announced that Bunny Wailer would receive Jamaica's fifth highest honour, the

Order of Jamaica The Order of Jamaica is the fifth of the six orders in the Jamaican honours system. The Order was established in 1969, and it is considered the equivalent of a knighthood in the British honours system. Membership in the Order can be conferred upon ...

.Bonitto, Brian (2012)
Tosh gets OM
, ''

'', 7 August 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2012 In 2016, he played a month-long 'Blackheart Man' tour to celebrate the 40th anniversary of his 1976 album.Campbell, Howard (2016)
The shows go on for Wailer
, ''

'', 17 May 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2016 In October 2017, he was awarded the

Order of Merit The Order of Merit (french: link=no, Ordre du Mérite) is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by ...

by the Jamaican government, the nation's fourth-highest honour. In October 2019, a commemorative

blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term ...

dedicated by the Nubian Jak Community Trust honoring Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Wailer was placed at the former site of

Basing Street Studios Basing Street Studios was a recording studio in a former 17th century chapel at 8–10 Basing Street, in Notting Hill, London, England. Originally established in 1969 as Island Studios by Chris Blackwell, the founder of Island Records, the studi ...

in London, where '' Catch a Fire'' and '' Burnin''' were completed. In November 2019, Wailer received a Pinnacle Award in New York from the Coalition to Preserve Reggae.

Health and death

In October 2018, Wailer suffered a minor

stroke A stroke is a disease, medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemorr ...

, resulting in speech problems. After suffering another stroke in July 2020, he was hospitalized at Andrews Memorial Hospital in

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley Inte ...

, where he eventually died on 2 March 2021 at the age of 73, of complications from the stroke he suffered the previous year.

Solo discography

Albums

* '' Blackheart Man'' (1976)

(2 extra albums with Blackheart Man: ''Dubd'sco vol.1'' (1976) Island/Tuff Gong and ''Blackheart Man (Remastered & Extended)'' (1976) Island/Tuff Gong) * ''

Protest A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one. Protests can be thought of as acts of cooper ...

'' (1977) Solomonic * ''Struggle'' (1978) Solomonic * ''In I Father's House'' (1979) Solomonic * ''Bunny Wailer Sings the Wailers'' (1980) Solomonic * ''Dubd'sco vol.2'' (1981) Solomonic * ''Rock 'n' Groove'' (1981) Solomonic * ''Tribute'' (1981) Solomonic * ''Hook Line & Sinker'' (1982) Solomonic * ''Roots Radics Rockers Reggae'' (1983) Shanachie (international re-release of ''In I Father's House'' + 2 extra tracks) * ''Live!'' (1983) Solomonic * ''Marketplace'' (1985) Solomonic * ''Rootsman Skanking'' (1987) Shanachie (international re-release of ''Rock And Groove'' edited version plus 3 extra tracks) * '' Rule Dance Hall'' (1987) Shanachie * ''

Liberation Liberation or liberate may refer to: Film and television * ''Liberation'' (film series), a 1970–1971 series about the Great Patriotic War * "Liberation" (''The Flash''), a TV episode * "Liberation" (''K-9''), an episode Gaming * '' Liberati ...

'' (1989) Shanachie * '' Time Will Tell: A Tribute to Bob Marley'' (1990) Shanachie (international re-release of ''Tribute'' + 2 extra tracks)Bonitto, Brian (22 January 2014)
Bunny Wailer Turns Up Treble
, ''

''. Retrieved 24 January 2014. * ''Gumption'' (1990) Shanachie * ''The Never Ending Wailers'' (1991)

RAS Ras or RAS may refer to: Arts and media * RAS Records Real Authentic Sound, a reggae record label * Rundfunk Anstalt Südtirol, a south Tyrolese public broadcasting service * Rás 1, an Icelandic radio station * Rás 2, an Icelandic radio sta ...

* ''Dance Massive'' (1992) Solomonic * ''Just Be Nice'' (1993) RAS * '' Hall of Fame: A Tribute to Bob Marley's 50th Anniversary'' (1996) RAS * ''Communication'' (2000) Solomonic * ''World Peace'' (2003) Solomonic * ''Bunny Wailer's Sound Clash'' (2006) Charly Records * ''Rub A Dub'' (2007) Solomonic * ''Cross Culture'' (2009) Solomonic * ''Reincarnated Souls'' (2013), VP – 3CD + 2DVD set Solomonic * ''Dub Fi Dub'' (2018) R.O.K./The Original Genesis

Compilations

* ''

Crucial! Roots Classics ''Crucial! Roots Classics'' is a compilation album by Bunny Wailer, released through RAS Records in 1994. The album collects many non-album singles from the early 1980s and also several tracks from the album 'Struggle', which has otherwise not appe ...

'' (1994) RAS * ''

Retrospective A retrospective (from Latin ''retrospectare'', "look back"), generally, is a look back at events that took place, or works that were produced, in the past. As a noun, ''retrospective'' has specific meanings in medicine, software development, popu ...

'' (1995) Solomonic/Shanachie * ''Dubd'sco Volumes 1 & 2'' (1998) RAS * ''Bob Marley & The Wailers Vol 2: Bunny Wailer & Johnny Lover'' (2002) Saludos Amigos (with Johnny Lover) * ''Winning Combinations: Bunny Wailer & Dennis Brown'' (2002) Universal Special Products (with

Dennis Brown Dennis Emmanuel Brown CD (1 February 1957 – 1 July 1999) was a Jamaican reggae singer. During his prolific career, which began in the late 1960s when he was aged eleven, he recorded more than 75 albums and was one of the major stars of lo ...

) * ''The Wailers Legacy'' (2006) Solomonic (Bunny Wailer & The Wailers) * ''Tuff Gong/Island Singles 1: Tread Along: 1969–1976'' (2016) Dub Store Records/Tuff Gong/Island * ''Solomonic Singles 2: Rise and Shine: 1977–1986'' (2016) Dub Store Records/Solomonic

DVDs

* ''Live'' (2005) Video Music, Inc.

Appearances on DVD compilations

* ''A Reggae Session'' (1988)

Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyou ...

, features "Roots, Radics, Rockers and Reggae" and "Rise and Shine"

Discography overview

* ''

Roots Reggae Library The Roots Reggae Library is a website that lists reviews of discographies of reggae artists. It contains detailed written descriptions of albums, songs and the style of the artist. There are currently 33 discographies on the website. The content ...

References

External links

The Wailers News
* * *
Bunny_Wailer_[Discography,_Biography_&_Lyrics
@_www.MusicGonnaTeach.com.html" ;"title="iscography, Biography & Lyrics">Bunny Wailer [Discography, Biography & Lyrics
@ www.MusicGonnaTeach.com">iscography, Biography & Lyrics">Bunny Wailer [Discography, Biography & Lyrics
@ www.MusicGonnaTeach.com
Roots Archives - Artist : Bunny Wailer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wailer, Bunny 1947 births 2021 deaths Musicians from Kingston, Jamaica Jamaican reggae singers Jamaican songwriters 20th-century Jamaican male singers Roots Reggae Library Grammy Award winners Performers of Rastafarian music Converts to the Rastafari movement Jamaican Rastafarians The Wailers members Island Records artists Members of the Order of Jamaica Recipients of the Order of Merit (Jamaica) 21st-century Jamaican male singers