Winston Hubert McIntosh OM GCOT (19 October [1] 1944 – 11 September 1987), professionally known as Peter Tosh, was a Jamaican reggae musician.

[4] During the early 1960s, as an aspiring musician, Tosh went to vocal teacher Joe Higgs, who gave free music lessons to young people.

Marley spent much of 1966 in Delaware in the United States with his mother, Cedella (née Malcolm) Marley-Booker, and for a brief time was working at a nearby Chrysler factory.

Tosh would explain later that they chose the name Wailers because to "wail" means to mourn or to, as he put it, "...express one's feelings vocally".

Rejecting the up-tempo dance of ska, the band slowed their music to a rocksteady pace, and infused their lyrics with political and social messages inspired by their new-found faith.

The title track soon became popular among endorsers of cannabis legalization, reggae music lovers and Rastafari all over the world, and was a favourite at Tosh's concerts.

[citation needed] Also in 1976, Tosh organised a backing band, Word, Sound and Power, who were to accompany him on tour for the next few years, and many of whom performed on his albums of this period.

It featured his recording of a song co-written with Marley, "Get Up, Stand Up", and a cover of "Stepping Razor" that would also appear on the soundtrack to the film Rockers.

Tosh lit a marijuana spliff and lectured about legalising cannabis, lambasting attending dignitaries Michael Manley and Edward Seaga for their failure to enact such legislation.

He report being beaten severely while in police custody - resulting in a broken hand and head injuries requiring stitches.

[citation needed] Tosh had been at odds for several years with his label, EMI, over a perceived lack of promotion for his music.

[17] Tosh had ten children including Andrew (1967), Jawara (mother Melody Cunningham),[18] Aldrina and youngest Niambe.

[19][20] On 11 September 1987, after Tosh returned to his home in Jamaica, a three-man gang came to his house on motorcycles demanding money.

[21] Tosh said he did not have any money in the house, after which Lobban and the fellow gunmen began opening fire in a reckless manner.

Herbalist Wilton "Doc" Brown and disc jockey Jeff 'Free I' Dixon also died as a result of wounds sustained during the robbery.

[29] The guitar was subsequently lost by the airlines when the tour went to Europe but was recovered when Tosh's public relations agent placed an article about its loss in Der Spiegel.

[30] The promoters of the Flashpoint Film Festival announced in 2006 that Tosh's common-law wife Andrea "Marlene" Brown would auction it on eBay.

[33] In 1979, a 1964 photograph of Tosh in sunglasses and a suit, also featuring Bob Marley and the Wailers, was used the inspiration for the logo of 2 Tone Records.

The logo featured a stylized man in a suit based on the photo of Tosh, although the figure was called "Walt Jabsco".

[37] In 1993, Stepping Razor: Red X was released, a documentary film chronicling Tosh's life, music and untimely death.

[38] It was directed by Canadian filmmaker Nicholas Campbell, produced by Wayne Jobson and based upon a series of spoken-word recordings made by Peter Tosh himself.

[51] In October 2019, a commemorative blue plaque dedicated by the Nubian Jak Community Trust honoring Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Wailer was placed at the former site of Basing Street Studios in London, where Catch a Fire and Burnin' were completed.