Bunny Wailer

Bunny Wailer, a singer songwriter and percussionist, was born Neville O'Riley Livingston in 1947 in Jamaica. Bunny Wailer continued recording solo and as a backup singer during the period of time that Marley was in Delaware.

Bunny Wailer toured with the Wailers to England and the United States, but soon became reluctant to leave Jamaica. He and Tosh became more marginalized in the group as the Wailers became an international success, and attention was increasingly focused on Marley. Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh subsequently left the Wailers to pursue solo careers. They were replaced by the I Threes, a move to broaden the base of success for the Wailers in the non-Jamaican market.

After leaving the Wailers, Bunny became more focused on his spiritual faith. As were the other Wailers, Bunny is an avowed Rastafarian. He produced a number of his own records after striking out on his own. He has written much of his own material, and also re-recorded a number of cuts from the Wailers catalogue. Bunny Wailer has recorded primarily in the roots style, in keeping with his often political and spiritual messages. He has also had success with recording in the typically apolitical more pop dancehall style. He has also succeeded in outliving his contemporaries.

Bunny Wailer has won the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album in 1990, 1994 and 1996.

Solo discography

• Blackheart Man, 1976
• Dubd'sco
• Hall of Fame: A Tribute to Bob Marley
• Sings the Wailers
• Communication
• Crucial Roots Classics
• Retrospective
• Dance Massive
• Roots Radics Rockers Reggae
• Time Will Tell: A Tribute to Bob Marley
• Rule Dance Hall
• Just be Nice
• Liberation 1989
• Gumption
• Protest
• Marketplace

Referenced By