Peter Tosh (19 October 1944–11 September 1987) was a Jamaican singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose music made an uncompromising demand for equal rights and justice. Born Winston Hubert McIntosh in Westmoreland, Jamaica, he became a founding member of the Wailers alongside Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer. His instrumental skill, distinctive voice, and songwriting helped shape the group’s sound as Jamaican popular music evolved from ska through rocksteady into reggae.
A largely self-taught guitarist and keyboard player, Tosh helped his fellow Wailers develop their musicianship. His compositions included “400 Years,” while “Get Up, Stand Up,” co-written with Marley, became an enduring anthem of resistance. After leaving the group, he established a powerful solo career with albums including Legalize It (1976), Equal Rights (1977) and Bush Doctor (1978).
Tosh’s commitment to Rastafari informed his affirmation of African identity and his opposition to racism, apartheid, police brutality and cannabis prohibition. At Jamaica’s One Love Peace Concert in April 1978, he challenged the country’s political leaders, insisting that peace meant little without justice.
On 11 September 1987, Tosh was murdered during an armed robbery at his home in St Andrew, Jamaica. He was forty-two. His final studio album, No Nuclear War, won the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Recording posthumously in 1988. Jamaica awarded him the Order of Merit in 2012. His legacy endures in music that joins spiritual conviction to political defiance—and in his insistence that human dignity cannot be separated from freedom.
The following ten quotations reflect the searching, provocative voice associated with this reggae revolutionary:
“Peace is the diploma you get in the cemetery, written on your tombstone: “Rest in Peace!”
“Without the truth, there is no consciousness.”
“You never miss the water til the well runs dry.”
“Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die.”
“Are some flowers more beautiful than others? The garden is beautiful. Do I prefer brother over brother? Comparisons are part of this political world. Where there is one, there is no conflict. Where there is two or more, there is conflict. Two is the devil. Conflict begin with the devil. We count 0 to 1, then back to 0. It is a circle.”
“I am good. I live good. I think good. I don’t have to feel good to be good, I take my goodness wherever I go.”
“It takes a lot of physical and spiritual energy to balance on one wheel.”
“You can get through everything and cast a laugh and sing. You can do anything that you want to.”
“The flesh, never fade! The flesh never leave the creation, because with that divine spirit the flesh cannot fade. If the spirit is weak then the flesh fade.”
“To have the truth in your possession you can be found guilty, sentenced to death.”
