Peter Tosh was shot and killed during a robbery at his home in Kingston on Friday, 11 September 1987, UPI reported. He was 42. The Washington Post confirmed the killing in its edition of 12 September 1987, noting that Tosh — “one of reggae music’s founding fathers” — had been murdered along with several others during the home invasion. The New York Times obituary, published 13 September, called him “one of reggae’s most influential figures.”
The attack
According to UPI, three gunmen on motorcycles entered Tosh’s home in the Barbican area of north Kingston and demanded money. When their demand was refused they forced seven people to the floor, shot them and ransacked the house. Tosh and herbalist Wilton “Doc” Brown were killed; Marlene Brown, disc jockey Jeff “Free I” Dixon and three others were wounded. Dixon died days later, the Los Angeles Times reported. The invasion ended Tosh’s life months after the release of No Nuclear War — the album that would posthumously win a Grammy.
The tributes
Jamaica mourned a man who had co-founded the Wailers with Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer, then built a solo career on albums including Legalize It and Equal Rights. The New York Times noted his role in writing “Get Up, Stand Up” and his reputation as reggae’s most outspoken advocate for marijuana legalisation and black liberation. Prime Minister Edward Seaga and the Jamaican music community paid tribute; the Stepping Razor was buried at the Duke Street Wesleyan Holiness Church in Kingston, the Guardian records.
Why it matters
Tosh’s murder cut short a career that had already changed Jamaican music twice — first as a Wailer, then as a solo prophet. He died as he had lived: at home in Kingston, unbowed, months after his final album warned the world about nuclear war.
Listen and dig deeper
- Play No Nuclear War, Equal Rights and Legalize It in the Listen library, and browse Peter Tosh.
- Previously: No Nuclear War (1987). Next: Order of Merit (2012).
Sources: UPI — “Peter Tosh killed during robbery” (Sep 12, 1987); The Washington Post — “Reggae Star Peter Tosh Shot to Death in Holdup” (Sep 12, 1987); The New York Times — “Peter Tosh, 42, Reggae’s Star” (Jon Pareles, Sep 13, 1987); Los Angeles Times — “POP/ROCK” (Sep 16, 1987).
Editor’s note: This entry is part of the JamaicansMusic online museum — a career timeline assembled from the archive. It is dated to the era it documents; every claim is drawn from the linked sources.