Bunny Wailer obituary

Founder member of the Wailers whose debut solo album Blackheart Man is regarded as one of reggae's finest

As one-third of the Wailers with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer, who has died aged 73 of a stroke, was an integral part of the most influential musical group to have emerged from Jamaica. The least feted of the trio, he was in many ways the most respected, for as each of the Wailers pursued solo careers from the mid-1970s onwards - Marley to become reggae's global evangelist and Tosh its militant conscience - Wailer continued on his quiet path as its spiritual ambassador. His debut album, Blackheart Man, is widely felt to be one of reggae's highest peaks.

While Wailer's initial acclaim stemmed from his work with Marley and Tosh, his later fame was derived from his solo output, which rested heavily, though by no means exclusively, on the masterful Blackheart Man. Released in 1976, just over two years after the Wailers had split, it was a gigantic achievement, simultaneously homespun and polished, uplifting and sorrowful, ethereal and worldly wise - and with an elemental aura about it that was summed up by its dark, foreboding cover, featuring a lion-like representation of its dreadlocked creator.