Natty Wailer obit

Tributes following death of Natty Wailer

Wynter passed away March 30. 

He was not on the list.

Tributes have been paid following the death of Nathaniel Ian Wynter, also known as Natty Wailer, a Jamaican-born musician and Rastafarian best known for his work with Bob Marley and the Wailers and others, who sadly passed away following a long illness.

Wynter, who is credited on recordings as Natty Wailer, Ian Winter, Ian Wynter, or Brother Ian with the likes of Aston Barrett and King Tubby, moved to Ireland, and Co Monaghan specifically in 2000, from where he became a familiar face to Irish music fans, playing at festivals across the country.

In latter years Wynter moved to Wexford.

He continued to tour and record with his band the Reggae Vibes, with whom he released two albums, Lifted (2000) and Destiny (2013). he also collaborated with a variety of local Irish acts.

In a 2012 interview with The Anglo-Celt, Wynter treated the interviewer to an impromptu outburst of the Marley classic ‘Jammin’, his aim not to impress, but rather to interact.

Natty’s broad Jamaican accent boomed down the phone in sentences littered with missing syllables, dripping with Caribbean warmth and just a sneaking hint of Irish intonation. “The world is my stage, but on stage I am not the star”, he admits. “The audience is there with me but we are not the stars. It is the reggae music that stars the show and I am but a vessel through which the love of reggae music flows.”

He said of his life in Ireland: “This is now my home. I feel compelled, I feel inspired to be in Ireland, to travel around playing reggae music. Teaching people how to play reggae music and spread the word of love and harmony through my music across this beautiful country.”

After being diagnosed with lung cancer four years before, he had been battling his illness quietly.

Wynter returned to his native Jamaica. He passed away March 30.