Wailer’s send-off tomorrow
A public viewing of late reggae singer Bunny Wailer is scheduled for Perry’s Funeral Home on Brunswick Avenue in Spanish Town, St Catherine, today from 9:00 am – 11:00 am, according to an advertisement published in media.
The burial is slated for the following day in a private plot at Dreamland Farm on the border of St Thomas and Portland. No time or details was given.
Efforts to reach Asadenaki Livingston, Bunny Wailer’s son and organiser of the ‘send off’, for comment were unsuccessful.
In a previous interview, however, Livingston said he was concerned about members of the public showing up resulting in a possible breach to COVID-19 protocols.
“It’ll be a private funeral for family members,” he said. “Due to COVID-19 restrictions, members of the public can still view the proceedings on ‘theofficialbunnywailer’ Facebook and IG platforms.”
A ‘farewell drive-by’ through the streets of Corporate Area is also on the cards.
Currently, the Government allows 15 people to attend a funeral. That number would include 10 mourners plus the officiating minister as well as staff overseeing the burial.
Like his father, Livingston is singer. He is also a film director/videographer. He recently produced WAILnSOUL, a 32-minute feature that revisits the challenges his family has faced in the last year, coping with his father’s illness and disappearance of Jean “Sister Jean” Watt, wife of Bunny Wailer, who went missing May 23 last year.
Bunny Wailer died in the Medical Associates Hospital in Kingston on March 2. He was 73.
The entertainer had been ailing for sometime and was in and out of hospital since suffering a second stroke in July 2020.
Hailing from Trench Town, Bunny Wailer’s given name is Neville Livingston. He was a founding member of The Wailers, which included Bob Marley and Peter Tosh.
Marley died of cancer on May 11, 1981, while Tosh was killed at his St Andrew home on September 11, 1987.
Wailer’s albums include Blackheart Man, released in 1976, and Rock ‘n’ Groove which came out five years later. His hit songs include Cool Runnings, Ballroom Floor, and Crucial.
In 2017, the Jamaican Government awarded Bunny Wailer an Order of Merit, the country’s fourth-highest honour. The Government again recognised his contribution to Jamaican music in February 2019 with a Reggae Gold Award.