As the first anniversary of the death of Bunny Wailer comes around, his estate is facing challenges as the executors head to court, even as Wailer’s partner of more than 50 years remains missing.
Neville ‘Bunny Wailer’ Livingston, a founding member of the iconic Wailers, passed away on March 2, 2021, at the Medical Associates Hospital in Kingston. He was 73.
His son Abijah and his older brother, Carl Livingston, were named co-executors of his estate.
In a statement sent to The Gleaner last Friday, Abijah outlined that he and his siblings have questions about the trust document which has been presented following his father’s passing. He also alleged that there was an attempt to evict his teen sister from the Darley Crescent residence, where some of the children had resided with their father, Bunny Wailer.
“I am making this statement to announce that my sisters and I have decided to challenge the document being presented to us as our father’s trust. We find the document itself to be questionable and contradictory. Even circumstances surrounding the whereabouts of the original document are troubling,” the statement said in part.
Abijah Livingston added, “Today [name omitted] were trying to remove our youngest sister, who is a minor, and her mother from our family home at 10 Darley Crescent.”
In a brief interview with The Gleaner on Sunday, Abijah’s uncle, Carl Livingston, confirmed there are legal issues that need to be addressed.
“Yes, we are going to court,” Carl confirmed. “It is about the will.”
An affidavit filed in the Probate Section of the Supreme Court in August last year shows that Abijah Livingston is seeking to have Carl Livingston removed as co-executor.
Quizzed about the reported eviction, Livingston neither confirmed nor denied the allegation. “That house … nobody is supposed to be living at that house. There is not even any water there,” he said, but refused to elaborate.
The property at Darley Crescent – which has been the site of the Bunny Wailer Museum since 2017 when four of the rooms were converted into a museum and opened on the occasion of Bunny Wailer’s 70th birthday – was owned by Wailer’s father, Thaddeus ‘Thaddy Shut’ Livingston. On display at the opening were photos, original album covers, Bunny Wailer’s awards, his boyhood bamboo guitar and a gramophone that belonged to his father, Thaddeus, who passed away on April 10, 1991. April 10 is also the birthday of Bunny Wailer.
‘ELECTRIC 75’
In an interview with The Gleaner on his birthday in 2020, an upbeat Jah B, as he is affectionately called, stated, “I am called Fitty Fitty by my brethren from those times, and it’s serving I well in these times. Giving thanks and praise to Jah Rastafari for all that He has given, still giving and doing for I, being a survivor with my key brethren Bob and Peter having transitioned so long ago. But I and I faith and foundation as The Wailers keeps I man collective and collected. I man sending strong wishes to my family, fans and especially the underserved in these trying times. Hold the faith,” he urged.
Bunny Wailer would have turned 75 this year. The family of the reggae legend shared that they are planning the 75th earth strong celebration dubbed ‘Electric75’.
“It will be a year-long series of events commemorating 75 legendary years of Neville O’Riley Livingston, aka Bunny Wailer,” Abijah told The Gleaner.
As always, he also reflected on his stepmother, Jean ‘Sis Jean’ Watt, who has been missing since May 23, 2020.
“We hold faith in our hearts for Sis Jean to return to us safely and continue to appeal to the public in helping us to look out for her. We, the children of Neville O’Riley Livingston, aka Bunny Wailer, will remain united as we stand together to defend our father’s legacy,” Abijah said.
Bunny Wailer, a founding member of the Wailers, enjoyed a career that spanned seven decades. His bio notes, “His debut solo album Blackheart Man, originally released on September 8, 1976, in Jamaica on his own Solomonic Records and internationally on Island Records, remains one of reggae’s most critically acclaimed works.”
In 2017, the Order of Merit was awarded to Bunny Wailer by the Jamaican Government.
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