Born April 10th, 1947, in the Nine Mile district of Jamaica’s St. Ann Parish, Livingston was a friend of Marley from a young age; following the death of Marley’s father, Norval, in 1955, Marley’s mother, Cedella, lived with Livingston’s father, Thaddeus, in Trench Town, making Bunny and Bob near-stepbrothers.
While Marley and Livingston were being mentored by Joe Higgs, “the Godfather of Reggae,” they met Higgs’ fellow student Peter Tosh; the then-trio ventured to Kingston. Soon after, they were joined by singer Junior Braithwaite and backup vocalists Beverley Kelso and Cherry Smith.
Braithwaite, Kelso, and Smith soon departed the Wailers, leaving the nucleus of Marley, Livingston, and Tosh intact; that trio recorded the band’s debut LP,, a collection of tracks the band recorded during the mid-Sixties. The Wailers then went on hiatus as Marley married his wife Rita and joined his mother in Wilmington, Delaware; during this period, Livingston served a yearlong sentence for marijuana possession. However, the three principle Wailers reunited upon Marley’s return to Jamaica.
While Marley and Tosh served as the Wailers’ primary singers and songwriters, Livingston played an indispensable role in providing harmonies to the trio’s songs. The Wailers next teamed with Perry and his Upsetters for 1970’s; around that time, Livingston wrote and recorded one of his signature songs, “Dreamland,” a track he revisited when he released his solo LPA collection of Wailers songs the trio recorded for producer Leslie Kong’s Beverley’s label was released asin 1971.
In 1972, the Wailers signed with producer Chris Blackwell and his Island Records, resulting in their 1973 classic and major-label debut, helped propel the Wailers to international fame, following the release of, both Tosh and Wailer left the group as Blackwell sought to diminish their roles and rebrand the Wailers as Marley’s backing group, as well as scheduling a tour of the U.S. that tested Tosh and Wailer’s strict Rastafarian faith.
Rip.
RIP Brother Bunny!
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