Bunny Wailer dead at 73
Neville Livingston, the last surviving member of the reggae band called, "The Wailers," and who is best known by his stage name, "Bunny Wailer," has died. Wailer died at Andrews Memorial hospital in Kingston on March 2, 2021, reportedly from complications from a stroke he suffered last July, shortly after his wife, Jean Watt, went missing.
Bunny Wailer was born in Kingston, Jamaica on April 10, 1947. He moved to nine mile, St. Ann with his father as a boy where he met a young Bob Marley. The two boys were from single parent households, and soon became friends. When Bunny and his father moved back to Kingston, Bob Marley, and his mother moved with them. They settled in the West Kingston neighborhood of Trench Town where they adopted their stage names, and started a band. Peter Tosh later joined the band, and they soon signed a deal with the Studio One record label founded by the legendary producer, Coxsone Dodd in 1963. This was at the height of the ska era. Bob Marley was the guitarist, and lead vocalist, and Peter Tosh, and Bunny Wailer provided back up vocals with Bunny also serving as the percussionist of the band. Together, they produced hit singles such as “Simmer Down,” “Nice Time,” and “Thank You, Lord.”
As rocksteady evolved into reggae by the late 1960’s, the three members of the Wailers converted to rastafarianism, and produced many solo hits. Bob Marley was the most notable member, and achieved global fame as a solo artist, but Peter, and Bunny were accomplished solo artists in their own right, and Bunny’s discography included solo hits such as, “Blackheart Man” and “In I Father’s House.” Despite their success as solo artists, they still produced some hit singles as a band throughout their career, such as, “Trench Town Rock,” and “Exodus.”
Bob Marley died from cancer on May 11, 1981 in Miami, and Peter Tosh was murdered at his home in Kingston on September 11, 1987, leaving Bunny Wailer as the last surviving member of “The Wailers” for another 33 years until his own death this past Tuesday at the age of 73. His was the latest in a series of death of reggae singers over the past year from Bob Andy almost a year ago, then Dobby Dobson over the summer, then Frederick “Toots” Hibbert from Toots and the Maytals succumbing to complications from Covid on the anniversary of the death of Peter Tosh, then U-Roy only about 2 weeks ago.
Wailer remained active in his later years until he suffered a minor stroke in 2018, that caused speech impairment. Just as he was recovering nicely, his wife Jean Watt, 70, who is said to be suffering from early signs of dementia, was reported missing in July 2020. The stress over his wife’s disappearance led to another stroke that caused his death less than a year later. His wife was never found, but regardless of medical determination of his cause of death, it is very apparent to me that he lost his will to live, and died of a broken heart with each passing day that his wife was not found, and the hope that she would ever be found alive became increasingly narrow.
RIP Bunny Wailer, your contributions to Jamaican culture will never be forgotten.
