Bunny Wailer, the Jamaican reggae singer who founded the Wailers with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh, and who was the last surviving founding member, has died in hospital at the age of 73 after a stroke.
Bunny Wailer, left, with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh, right, in 1964. Born in 1947 in Kingston, he and Marley became friends as toddlers, and formed the Wailers in 1963, which settled into a core trio of the pair alongside Tosh Photograph: Michael Ochs ArchivesBob Marley and the Wailers, from left, Peter Tosh, Aston ‘Family Man’ Barrett, Bob Marley, Earl ‘Wire’ Lindo, Carlton ‘Carly’ Barrett and Bunny Wailer, pose for a portrait in 1973 in London Photograph: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty ImagesWailer penned a number of the Wailers songs, including what would become his signature song, Dreamland Photograph: Gems/RedfernsFrom left, Bunny Wailer, Bob Marley, Carlton Barrett, Peter Tosh, Aston ‘Family Man’ Barrett Photograph: Cookie KinkeadBob Marley and the Wailers, including Wailer, second right, on the BBC’s Old Grey Whistle Test in 1973 Photograph: Alan Messer/Rex/ShutterstockBunny Wailer, 1970s. The original trio split in 1974, when Wailer left alongside Tosh. He began a solo career, beginning with 1976’s acclaimed Blackheart Man Photograph: Everett Collection Inc/AlamyA single by Bunny Wailer released on his own Solomonic label. Each of the three founding Wailers launched their own labels, including Bob Marley’s Tuff Gong, and Peter Tosh’s H.I.M. Intel Diplo Photograph: Guy LaneWailer maintained a steady release schedule for 40 years Photograph: Jim Rankin/Toronto Star/Getty ImagesWailer performing at the Henry J Kaiser Auditorium in Oakland in November 1986 Photograph: Clayton Call/RedfernsWailer in Notting Hill, London, in 1988 Photograph: David Corio/RedfernsWailer at the Beacon Theatre in New York City in 1997. He won the Grammy award for best reggae album three times, in 1991, 1995, and 1997 Photograph: David Corio/RedfernsWailer sings the songs of Bob Marley at the One Love concert to celebrate Marley’s 60th birthday, in Kingston, Jamaica, in 2005 Photograph: Collin Reid/APWailer smoking in a yard in Kingston in 2014. He received several of Jamaica’s highest honours, including the Order of Merit and the Order of Jamaica Photograph: David McFadden/APWailer performing at Liverpool O2 Academy in 2015 Photograph: WENN Rights Ltd/AlamyWailer in concert in Las Vegas in 2016 Photograph: MediaPunch/Rex/ShutterstockWailer in New York City in 2019. ‘This is a great loss for Jamaica and for Reggae,’ said the Jamaican prime minister, Andrew Holness, calling the singer ‘a respected elder statesman of the Jamaican music scene’ Photograph: Roy Rochlin/Getty Images
Hawkins Bay Dispatch 