Peter Tosh (1944–1987) co-founded The Wailers with Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer before cutting the most politically direct solo reggae of his era. Legalize It (1976) and Equal Rights (1977) are essential — righteous, confrontational roots music that still hits. Find Peter Tosh vinyl, CDs, and reissues at Wax Trax Records.
Winston Hubert McIntosh was born in Westmoreland Parish, Jamaica on October 19, 1944. He co-founded The Wailers in 1962 with Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer (Neville Livingston) - the trio recorded Studio One and other landmark Jamaican material across the 1960s and early 1970s. He departed The Wailers in 1974 to launch his solo career amid creative tensions with Bob Marley. His solo work is widely cited as some of the most politically direct reggae material in the genre's history - his 1976 debut Legalize It (advocating for marijuana legalization, with the title track) and 1977 follow-up Equal Rights (addressing apartheid in South Africa, civil rights, and Black power politics) established his foundational role as one of the most politically committed reggae artists. He was murdered in his Kingston, Jamaica home on September 11, 1987 at age 42 during a home invasion robbery by Dennis Lobban (sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder). He was awarded the Jamaican Order of Merit in 2012 (posthumously). His foundational influence on reggae as a politically charged musical form is widely cited.
Peter Tosh's sound combines reggae, roots reggae, dub, rocksteady, and Rastafari music with his distinctive baritone vocal delivery (use of confrontational political content), and arrangements drawing on classic Studio One and Tuff Gong Jamaican production traditions. His foundational influence on politically committed reggae is widely documented.
Original Columbia Records, Rolling Stones Records, and EMI pressings of the Peter Tosh catalog are widely collected in reggae collecting communities. Multiple anniversary editions and audiophile reissues have been released.
Listeners new to Peter Tosh typically start with Legalize It (1976) or Equal Rights (1977).
