The Wailers Band

After Bob Marley's death from cancer on May 11, 1981, the Wailers Band spent nearly ten years without a clear sense of purpose, blocked from issuing independent recordings by tangled legal constraints. Family Man Barrett on bass and his brother Carlton on drums supplied the core, the latter killed in April 1987 by gunmen hired by his wife; with that foundation the group maintained a near-constant circuit of favorably received international tours through the 1980s. Lead guitarist Junior Murvin assumed most vocal duties, while keyboardist Wya Lindo and percussionist Seeco Patterson—who had escorted the original Wailers to their first audition in 1963—contributed further legitimacy, yet as the 1990s advanced the band continued to search for a distinct voice on discs such as 1994's Never Ending Wailers and 1996's Jah Message, notwithstanding the name of their initial solo release.