Biography
Emerging as one of reggae music’s foundational ensembles and the formative platform for legendary figures Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Wailer, the Wailers evolved from their early-1960s beginnings strictly as vocalists into creators of numerous groundbreaking and widely celebrated tracks across the style. After issuing early-1970s landmarks Catch a Fire and Burnin’, Tosh and Wailer pursued independent paths while Marley redirected the ensemble toward his own socially and politically engaged solo output, culminating in their highest commercial achievements during the decade’s later years. Guided by Marley, the collective gained worldwide exposure via 1975’s Live! and propelled reggae into the international mainstream through later releases such as Rastaman Vibration, Exodus, and Kaya. Marley’s passing from cancer in 1981 severed remaining connections to the original configuration, yet the central musicians from the 1970s period—particularly bassist Aston “Family Man” Barrett, his sibling drummer Carly Barrett, and guitarist Junior Marvin—sustained the group’s presence by performing and recording under the Wailers and Wailers Band designations across subsequent decades.
Established in Kingston, Jamaica, during 1963, the initial roster operated as a ska vocal ensemble featuring Junior Braithwaite, Beverley Kelso, Bunny Livingston, Bob Marley, Peter McIntosh, and Cherry Smith; they performed under varying names including the Teenagers, the Wailing Rudeboys, the Wailing Wailers, and ultimately the Wailers. Braithwaite, Kelso, and Smith exited before 1966, leaving Livingston, Marley, and McIntosh as the core trio. By the early 1970s they incorporated instruments and expanded with a rhythm section of brothers Aston “Family Man” Barrett on bass and Carlton “Carly” Barrett on drums. Following extensive Jamaican sessions, this lineup secured a contract with Great Britain’s Island Records, which launched their label debut Catch a Fire in April 1973 and Burnin’ in November. The albums drew critical notice yet initially avoided chart placement.
At the release of Natty Dread in 1974 the founding members had parted ways, McIntosh (subsequently credited as Peter Tosh) and Livingston (subsequently credited as Bunny Wailer) having departed. The recording appeared under the Bob Marley & the Wailers banner, comprising Marley, the Barrett brothers, keyboardist Bernard “Touter” Harvey, lead guitarist Al Anderson, and backing vocals from the I-Threes (Marcia Griffiths, Rita Marley, and Judy Mowatt). The ensemble’s breakthrough arrived with their July 18, 1975 performance at London’s Lyceum; the concert was captured and swiftly issued as the live album Live!, transforming Marley and reggae into an international phenomenon. Eric Clapton’s 1974 summer cover of the Burnin’ track “I Shot the Sheriff” had already advanced reggae’s reach (the original itself reached the U.S. R&B charts that autumn), yet Marley now attained stardom in his own right. The live version of “No Woman, No Cry,” first featured on Natty Dread, entered the U.K. charts in September 1975 and achieved Top 40 status. Consequently both Natty Dread and Live! appeared on British listings; in the U.S. Natty Dread charted in May, followed by Burnin’ and Catch a Fire that autumn (Live! remained unreleased domestically for a year before entering the Top 100).
Bob Marley & the Wailers attained their strongest U.S. commercial standing with the April 1976 studio album Rastaman Vibration, which entered the Top Ten while “Roots, Rock, Reggae” registered as a modest pop entry and Top 40 R&B hit. The lineup at that stage included Marley, the Barretts, the I-Threes, keyboardist Tyrone Downie, percussionist Alvin “Seeco” Patterson, rhythm guitarist Earl “Chinna” Smith, and lead guitarist Donald Kinsey. Exodus, issued in May 1977, shifted toward a brisker, disco-inflected approach and generated three U.K. Top 40 singles (“Exodus,” “Waiting in Vain,” and the Top Ten “Jamming” backed by the non-album “Punky Reggae Party”), becoming their first British Top Ten album. American sales mirrored Rastaman Vibration, yet programmers struggled to categorize the music between rock and R&B formats. “Exodus” reached the R&B Top 20 and “Waiting in Vain” the R&B Top 40 without crossing over to pop. Personnel again shifted, now consisting of Marley, the Barretts, the I-Threes, Downie, Patterson, and lead guitarist Julian “Junior” Marvin.
Kaya, Bob Marley & the Wailers’ fourth studio album, surfaced in March 1978. In Britain it became their strongest showing yet, climbing to the Top Five on the strength of advance single “Is This Love” (Top Ten) and follow-up “Satisfy My Soul” (Top 40). U.S. reception proved weaker, as Black radio viewed the band as incompatible with disco-dominated formats while pop outlets embraced new wave and dismissed reggae as a fading trend. The November double live set Babylon by Bus, signaling Al Anderson’s return and keyboardist Earl “Wire” (or “Wya”) Lindo’s addition, sold modestly and again performed better in England than America.
The fifth Bob Marley & the Wailers studio album, Survival, appeared in October 1979. It reached the U.K. Top 20, with single “So Much Trouble in the World” charting, yet U.S. sales remained moderate even as “Wake Up and Live” became a minor R&B entry. Uprising, released June 1980 and introduced by the driving single “Could You Be Loved,” produced a commercial rebound; both the single and album reached U.K. Top Ten. Domestic resistance continued, though “Could You Be Loved” charted R&B and the album outperformed any prior release since Exodus. Greater U.S. impact might have followed had Marley not fallen ill soon after the album’s arrival and canceled its supporting tour after only a handful of dates. His death from cancer in May 1981 ended the Bob Marley & the Wailers configuration but did not halt the catalog’s momentum.
Two years later the posthumous Confrontation album delivered one of Marley’s and the Wailers’ signature successes, the lasting “Buffalo Soldier.” The 1984 greatest-hits collection Legend: The Best of Bob Marley and the Wailers emerged as a perennial seller on both sides of the Atlantic, embedding those recordings in public awareness for decades. Meanwhile the Barrett-led, Junior Marvin-fronted post-Marley iteration toured steadily through the 1980s as the Wailers Band. Drummer Carly Barrett was fatally shot at his Jamaican residence on April 17, 1987, at age 36. Five months afterward, on September 11 of the same year, founding member Peter Tosh was also murdered during a home invasion. The Wailers Band persisted, issuing its first studio album under that name, I.D., in 1989, followed by Majestic Warriors in 1991 and JAH Message in 1994; thereafter the name largely reverted to the Wailers, with assorted lineups continuing global touring and issuing numerous live recordings over the ensuing two decades.
By 2008 two rival factions had divided the ensemble, Aston Barrett retaining the Wailers designation while guitarists Al Anderson and Junior Marvin asserted rights to the Original Wailers title. Despite the shared name, neither Anderson nor Marvin belonged to the founding roster, nor did Barrett. Marvin departed the Original Wailers in 2011, leaving Anderson to proceed with a younger supporting cast. Barrett, for his part, incorporated his son Aston Barrett Jr. on drums and vocalist Shema McGregor, daughter of I-Three member Judy Mowatt, to uphold the heritage. On March 2, 2021, Bunny Wailer, the last surviving member of the original trio, died at age 73 after hospitalization since July 2020 following a stroke.
Established in Kingston, Jamaica, during 1963, the initial roster operated as a ska vocal ensemble featuring Junior Braithwaite, Beverley Kelso, Bunny Livingston, Bob Marley, Peter McIntosh, and Cherry Smith; they performed under varying names including the Teenagers, the Wailing Rudeboys, the Wailing Wailers, and ultimately the Wailers. Braithwaite, Kelso, and Smith exited before 1966, leaving Livingston, Marley, and McIntosh as the core trio. By the early 1970s they incorporated instruments and expanded with a rhythm section of brothers Aston “Family Man” Barrett on bass and Carlton “Carly” Barrett on drums. Following extensive Jamaican sessions, this lineup secured a contract with Great Britain’s Island Records, which launched their label debut Catch a Fire in April 1973 and Burnin’ in November. The albums drew critical notice yet initially avoided chart placement.
At the release of Natty Dread in 1974 the founding members had parted ways, McIntosh (subsequently credited as Peter Tosh) and Livingston (subsequently credited as Bunny Wailer) having departed. The recording appeared under the Bob Marley & the Wailers banner, comprising Marley, the Barrett brothers, keyboardist Bernard “Touter” Harvey, lead guitarist Al Anderson, and backing vocals from the I-Threes (Marcia Griffiths, Rita Marley, and Judy Mowatt). The ensemble’s breakthrough arrived with their July 18, 1975 performance at London’s Lyceum; the concert was captured and swiftly issued as the live album Live!, transforming Marley and reggae into an international phenomenon. Eric Clapton’s 1974 summer cover of the Burnin’ track “I Shot the Sheriff” had already advanced reggae’s reach (the original itself reached the U.S. R&B charts that autumn), yet Marley now attained stardom in his own right. The live version of “No Woman, No Cry,” first featured on Natty Dread, entered the U.K. charts in September 1975 and achieved Top 40 status. Consequently both Natty Dread and Live! appeared on British listings; in the U.S. Natty Dread charted in May, followed by Burnin’ and Catch a Fire that autumn (Live! remained unreleased domestically for a year before entering the Top 100).
Bob Marley & the Wailers attained their strongest U.S. commercial standing with the April 1976 studio album Rastaman Vibration, which entered the Top Ten while “Roots, Rock, Reggae” registered as a modest pop entry and Top 40 R&B hit. The lineup at that stage included Marley, the Barretts, the I-Threes, keyboardist Tyrone Downie, percussionist Alvin “Seeco” Patterson, rhythm guitarist Earl “Chinna” Smith, and lead guitarist Donald Kinsey. Exodus, issued in May 1977, shifted toward a brisker, disco-inflected approach and generated three U.K. Top 40 singles (“Exodus,” “Waiting in Vain,” and the Top Ten “Jamming” backed by the non-album “Punky Reggae Party”), becoming their first British Top Ten album. American sales mirrored Rastaman Vibration, yet programmers struggled to categorize the music between rock and R&B formats. “Exodus” reached the R&B Top 20 and “Waiting in Vain” the R&B Top 40 without crossing over to pop. Personnel again shifted, now consisting of Marley, the Barretts, the I-Threes, Downie, Patterson, and lead guitarist Julian “Junior” Marvin.
Kaya, Bob Marley & the Wailers’ fourth studio album, surfaced in March 1978. In Britain it became their strongest showing yet, climbing to the Top Five on the strength of advance single “Is This Love” (Top Ten) and follow-up “Satisfy My Soul” (Top 40). U.S. reception proved weaker, as Black radio viewed the band as incompatible with disco-dominated formats while pop outlets embraced new wave and dismissed reggae as a fading trend. The November double live set Babylon by Bus, signaling Al Anderson’s return and keyboardist Earl “Wire” (or “Wya”) Lindo’s addition, sold modestly and again performed better in England than America.
The fifth Bob Marley & the Wailers studio album, Survival, appeared in October 1979. It reached the U.K. Top 20, with single “So Much Trouble in the World” charting, yet U.S. sales remained moderate even as “Wake Up and Live” became a minor R&B entry. Uprising, released June 1980 and introduced by the driving single “Could You Be Loved,” produced a commercial rebound; both the single and album reached U.K. Top Ten. Domestic resistance continued, though “Could You Be Loved” charted R&B and the album outperformed any prior release since Exodus. Greater U.S. impact might have followed had Marley not fallen ill soon after the album’s arrival and canceled its supporting tour after only a handful of dates. His death from cancer in May 1981 ended the Bob Marley & the Wailers configuration but did not halt the catalog’s momentum.
Two years later the posthumous Confrontation album delivered one of Marley’s and the Wailers’ signature successes, the lasting “Buffalo Soldier.” The 1984 greatest-hits collection Legend: The Best of Bob Marley and the Wailers emerged as a perennial seller on both sides of the Atlantic, embedding those recordings in public awareness for decades. Meanwhile the Barrett-led, Junior Marvin-fronted post-Marley iteration toured steadily through the 1980s as the Wailers Band. Drummer Carly Barrett was fatally shot at his Jamaican residence on April 17, 1987, at age 36. Five months afterward, on September 11 of the same year, founding member Peter Tosh was also murdered during a home invasion. The Wailers Band persisted, issuing its first studio album under that name, I.D., in 1989, followed by Majestic Warriors in 1991 and JAH Message in 1994; thereafter the name largely reverted to the Wailers, with assorted lineups continuing global touring and issuing numerous live recordings over the ensuing two decades.
By 2008 two rival factions had divided the ensemble, Aston Barrett retaining the Wailers designation while guitarists Al Anderson and Junior Marvin asserted rights to the Original Wailers title. Despite the shared name, neither Anderson nor Marvin belonged to the founding roster, nor did Barrett. Marvin departed the Original Wailers in 2011, leaving Anderson to proceed with a younger supporting cast. Barrett, for his part, incorporated his son Aston Barrett Jr. on drums and vocalist Shema McGregor, daughter of I-Three member Judy Mowatt, to uphold the heritage. On March 2, 2021, Bunny Wailer, the last surviving member of the original trio, died at age 73 after hospitalization since July 2020 following a stroke.
Singles
