Bunny Wailer's Biography
194x
- Neville O'Riley Livingston was born 1947, April 10, in Kingston, Jamaica.
- Neville lived with his father (Thaddius Livingston) in Nine Mile, Jamaica.
He attended the Stepney School. It was there that Neville and Robert Nesta
Marley became friends.
195x
- Neville and his father moved to Kingston, Jamaica in 1952. Neville's father
and Robert's mother were both single parents. In Kingston they lived together
and had a daughter (Claudette "Pearl" Livingston).
196x
- Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, Winston Hubert "Peter" McIntosh, Neville O'Riley
"Bunny" Livingston and Franklin Delano Alexander "Junior" Braithwaite learned
breath control, harmony techniques, music theory and songwriting from Jamaican
singer / arranger / composer Joe Higgs. Higgs gave free music lessons at his
yard on Third Street in Trench Town, Jamaica. He was a devout rasta.
- Bob, Peter, Bunny, Junior, Beverly Kelso and Cherry Green joined to start
"The Teenagers" vocal group in 1963. The group was renamed "The Wailing Rudeboys",
"The Wailing Wailers" and last "The Wailers".
- Bunny left The Wailers temporary in 1967. He was arrested and sentenced
to 14 months in prison for marijuana possession.
- Bunny rejoined The Wailers in 1968, September.
197x
- The Wailers signed a deal with Chris Blackwell's Island Records and recorded
the album "Catch A Fire" in 1972. "Catch A Fire" was the first international
Reggae album.
- Bunny left The Wailers in 1973. He refused to tour outside of Jamaica.
- Bunny started his solo career.
- Bunny started the "Solomonic" label in 1973.
- Bunny and Peter recorded the songs "Bide Up" and "Fighting Against Conviction"
for Bunny's "Blackheart Man" album.
- Bunny, Peter and Bob recorded a new version of The Wailers' song "Dreamland"
for Bunny's "Blackheart Man" album.
198x
- Peter, Bunny, Junior and Vision recorded songs for The Wailers' "The Never
Ending Wailers" album in 1984.
- Bunny toured outside of Jamaica for the first time (since 1973) in 1986.
- Bunny, Junior and Vision performed the song "Together Again" at the Madison
Square Garden in 1986.
199x
- Bunny performed at the Reggae Sunsplash Festival for the first time in
1990.
- Bunny's "Time Will Tell: A Tribute To Bob Marley" album won the 1990 Grammy
for Best Reggae Album in 1991.
- Bunny's "Crucial! Roots Classics" album won the 1994 Grammy for Best Reggae
Album in 1995.
- Bunny's "Hall Of Fame: A Tribute To Bob Marley's 50th Anniversary" album
won the 1996 Grammy for Best Reggae Album in 1997.