Wailers

Wailers is a Jamaican group from Kingston. The name is used for several related line-ups, but the best-known version develops in the 1960s around Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh, with the group shortening its earlier name, The Wailing Rudeboys, to The Wailers. The group remains active between 1970 and 1981 in the configuration anchored by Marley, Wailer and Tosh, and later continues to record and tour under related Wailers names after line-up changes.

Origins and membership

The core Wailers line-up includes Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh. Other members associated with the group include Junior Braithwaite, Beverley Kelso and Cherry Smith. In the later Wailers period, personnel also includes Al Anderson, Aston “Family Man” Barrett, Carlton “Carly” Barrett, Rita Marley, Judy Mowatt, Marcia Griffiths, Junior Marvin and Nathaniel Ian Wynter.

Style and recordings

The group is associated with dub, Jamaican ska, reggae, rocksteady, roots reggae and ska. Its earlier recordings are credited to The Wailers, and after 1974 Marley records as Bob Marley & The Wailers when Tosh and Bunny Wailer leave to pursue solo careers. The Wailers’ work is central to Marley’s career and to the development of Jamaican popular music in this period.