Tony Tuff

Jamaican native Winston Anthony Morris, a multi-instrumentalist who sang, wrote songs, and played guitar, first rose to prominence in the late 1960s by co-founding the vocal reggae trio African Brothers alongside Sugar Minott and Derrick Howard. Still in their teens when the group launched, the three members issued several well-received singles before the act dissolved in the middle of the following decade. While Derrick Howard later concentrated on production work, both Sugar Minott and Morris launched individual careers; Morris, performing as Tony Tuff, made his solo debut on the 1978 split album Tony Tuff Meets Errol Schorder, whose title carried a misspelling of collaborator Errol Scorcher’s name.

Throughout the 1980s Morris collaborated frequently with leading reggae producers, among them Yabby You, responsible for his 1980 self-titled LP, and Henry Lawes, who helmed the 1983 release Come Fe Mash It along with the high-charting singles “Mix Me Down” and “Water Pumpee.” Additional albums, singles, and compilations appeared during that decade, yet output nearly ceased in the 1990s. A modest return occurred in the 2000s with the solo sets Hit and Run in 2001 and How Long in 2006, followed by the 2009 dub companion How Long Dub, reworked by Jah Shakka. The same period saw a short-lived reunion with Minott that yielded the African Brothers’ 2004 album Mysterious Nature, and Morris expanded his live itinerary with dates across Europe, Canada, and the United States. Winston Anthony Morris, known professionally as Tony Tuff, died on April 20, 2024, at the age of 69.