Peter Tosh: The Toughest

One of Peter Tosh's earliest singles was "I'm The Toughest" and he did his best to live up to that reputation for the duration of his 42 years...even on a unicycle...

For much of his career he played guitar and sang alongside Bob Marley and Bunny Livingston in the legendary Wailers until they split up after releasing the 1973 classic, Burnin'. Before they parted ways, Marley and Tosh collaborated on the seminal, "Get Up, Stand Up."



The two shared a Lennon/McCartney-type relationship, with Tosh playing the angry John to Marley's sweeter Paul. When Marley sang of "One Love" Tosh eventually countered with "No Peace" from his amazing solo album, Equal Rights.



So it blew my mind recently when I found myself at the gates of the Tosh Memorial Garden in Belmont, Westmoreland on Jamaica's south coast.  

A giant Rasta named Pablo greeted me with a fat spliff and led me to Tosh's tomb.

Tosh was murdered at his Kingston home on September 11, 1987, shot in the head by a "maga dog," or an ungrateful thug from Trench Town who he had once offered a helping hand.

Pablo then pointed to the house further up the hill and said I could go meet "the mother," 96-year-old Alvira Coke.

All this happened unexpectedly, a serendipitous event on the road between Montego Bay and Treasure Beach.

"Live for yourself, you will live in vain
Live for others, you will live again...
Pass it on"