Reggae musician Neville Livingston, best known as Bunny Wailer, has died at 73.
A cause of death was not immediately disclosed but Wailer had been in a Kingston, Jamaica hospital for some time. He suffered strokes in October 2018 and July 2020.
“Bunny Wailer has made a tremendous impact on the world setting the stage for a global movement a love for Rocksteady and reggae music,” said Jamaican prime minister Andrew Holness, in a release. “His legendary performances have touched the hearts and souls of millions of fans in Jamaica and across the world.”
Wailer co-founded the group that became the Wailers with Bob Marley and Winston McIntosh (aka Peter Tosh). He left the band in 1973 but released dozens of solo albums and won three Grammy Awards.
Marley died of cancer in 1981 at 36 and Tosh was shot to death in 1987 at 42.
Wailer was honoured with the Order of Jamaica in 2012 and the country’s Order of Merit in 2017.