Slain Jamaican icon and reggae singer, Peter Tosh was recently honored with a museum devoted to the life and music.
The Tosh museum opens today on the 72nd anniversary of Tosh’s birth and also marks the 40th anniversary of the release of the song “Legalize It” and includes exhibits such as a guitar shaped like an assault rifle that he frequently used, as well as his unicycle.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness will be the guest speaker at the official opening of the Peter Tosh Museum at the Pulse Centre, Trafalgar Road, St Andrew.
In 2012 Tosh received Jamaica’s highest honor, the Order of Merit, posthumously but his legacy still wasn’t be carried on.
Tosh’s widow Marlene Brown, said in an interview Tuesday, “A lot of people have gotten honored for less in Jamaica and Peter is somewhat forgotten. That made me work harder to see that he got what he deserves.”
Peter Tosh was one of the founding members of what was originally known in as the Wailing Wailers, along with Marley, Bunny Livingston and Junior Braithwaite. The band was later called simply “The Wailers.”
Tosh went on to have a successful solo career, which included some songs now considered classics such as reggae version of “Johnny B. Goode” and “(You Gotta Walk) Don’t Look Back,” which he recorded with The Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger.
In September 1987 Tosh was shot and killed during an attack on his home by a gang led by an acquaintance, Dennis Lobban, who remains imprisoned in Jamaica for the crime.
A tribute concert museum will be held Saturday (Oct 23rd) at the museum site. It will feature Tosh’s son, Andrew, as well as grandson Dre Tosh and his Word, Sound and Power band.