Earl Wilberforce "Wire" Lindo (7 January 1953 – 4 September 2017), sometimes referred to as Wya (the way it is pronounced), was a Jamaican

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

musician. He was a member of

Bob Marley and the Wailers Bob Marley and the Wailers (previously known as the Wailers and prior to that the Wailing Rudeboys, the Wailing Wailers and the Teenagers) were a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae band. The founding members, in 1963, were Bob Marley (Robert ...

and collaborated with numerous reggae artists including Burning Spear.

Biography

Earl spent his childhood "watching the plantation" along the St. James and Trelawny/border. While attending Excelsior High School in Kingston, he played with Barry Biggs, Mikey "Boo" Richards, and Ernest Wilson in the Astronauts, and later played organ in the band Now Generation, and with Tommy McCook and the Supersonics, and the Meters.Remembering 'Wya'
, ''

Jamaica Observer The ''Jamaica Observer'' is a daily newspaper published in Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by ...

'', 13 September 2017. Retrieved 15 September 2017Earl Lindo Biography
,

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

. Retrieved 15 September 2017 Aston "Familyman" Barrett heard Lindo and recommended him to play for a Saturday afternoon television program ''Where It's At'' on JBC. Lindo also spent his early days working at Coxsone Dodd's Studio One, where he played on innumerable recordings. In 1973, he was invited to join The Wailers on a US tour, going on to play on '' Burnin'''.Unterberger, Richie (2017) ''Bob Marley and the Wailers: The Ultimate Illustrated History'', Voyageur Press, , p. 85, 154 He left the Wailers in 1974 to join

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal ( ; ; ) is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was commissioned in 1631 by the fifth Mughal Empire, Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his belo ...

's band. Lindo can be heard on an album credited to the Impact All-Stars. Released in 1975, the album is a collection of dub tracks recorded at Randy's Studio 17. On his return to Jamaica he played on recordings by

Big Youth Manley Augustus Buchanan (born 19 April 1949, Trenchtown, Kingston, Jamaica, Kingston, Jamaica),Thompson, Dave (2002) "Reggae & Caribbean Music", Backbeat Books, better known as Big Youth (sometimes called Jah Youth), is a Jamaican Toasting (J ...

Culture Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

, I Roy, and Al Brown, and had some success with solo singles "No Soul Today" and "Who Done It". In 1978 he rejoined the Wailers, playing on '' Babylon by Bus'', ''

Survival Survival or survivorship, the act of surviving, is the propensity of something to continue existing, particularly when this is done despite conditions that might kill or destroy it. The concept can be applied to humans and other living things ...

'', and '' Uprising''. After Marley's death, Lindo was a member of The Wailers Band. Lindo died in a London hospital on 4 September 2017, aged 64, shortly after being admitted with abdominal pain. Among the tributes paid, Olivia Grange, Jamaican Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, described him as "an exceptionally gifted musician who played a pivotal role alongside Bob Marley and the Wailers in the global success of Jamaica's reggae music."Davis, Garwin (2017)
Culture Minister Pays Tribute to the Late Earl 'Wya' Lindo
, Jamaica Information Service, 8 September 2017. Retrieved 15 September 2017

Family

Lindo and his wife Marie had two daughters, and lived in London. He also has a son who resides in the United States.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lindo, Earl 1953 births 2017 deaths Musicians from Kingston, Jamaica Jamaican reggae musicians The Wailers members