Maxine Stowe Says She’s Honoring Bunny Wailer’s Final Wishes Amid Opposition From His Children

There has been a public brouhaha between entertainment executive Maxine Stowe and the children of Neville ‘Bunny Wailer’ Livingston regarding authorized public pronouncements about his funeral, equity in his various entrepreneurial ventures, and even possession of the legend’s sceptre.

Now, Stowe has issued a firm release suggesting that despite the bickering, Bunny Wailer’s final wishes “will be done” as he stipulated in the provisions in his last will and testament.

“I wish to repeat my intention to honour the last wishes and testament of the Hon. Neville Livingston, OM. Jah B left a testamentary document that speaks to his intent and what is to be, will be. I take serious note of the expanding assault on my character and integrity,” Maxine Stowe said in a statement issued on Friday.

According to Stowe, she has acted not only in the capacity of manager, but functioned as Bunny Wailer’s spouse and business partner over the last decade. She issued a barely veiled threat to respond legally to the constant, slanderous personal attacks from a few of Bunny Wailer’s children in the week following his death.

“Jah B engaged me in several business and personal matters over the years, and it is he, not I, who in his judgment did so. With regard to the sullying of my character and our history, work and legacy, my lawyers have written to the children through their lawyers. Rest in power, my Protector, Partner, and Friend,” the statement concluded. 

Stowe, a well-respected figure in the entertainment industry, is also the widow of Dancehall legend Sugar Minott, and the niece of super-producer Clement ‘Sir Coxsone’ Dodd.

Meanwhile, Wailer’s children, in their release last week, said that the search continues for Jean Watt, his other partner of over 50 years, who went missing in May 2020.

Wailer passed away on Tuesday, March 2, at the Medical Associates Hospital in St Andrew. He will be interred at a secret location at Dreamland Farm, the 142-acre estate located snugly on the border of St Thomas and Portland, which will be the final resting place for Reggae legend.

Bunny Wailer won the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album three times – in 1991 for the album Time Will Tell: A Tribute to Bob Marley; in 1995 for Crucial! Roots Classics; and in 1997 for Hall of Fame: A Tribute to Bob Marley’s 50th Anniversary.

He was also featured on the album True Love by Toots and the Maytals, which won the Grammy Award in 2004 for Best Reggae Album.

In August 2012, Bunny Wailer received Jamaica’s fifth-highest honor from the Government, the Order of Jamaica, and in October 2017, it was upgraded and he was awarded the Order of Merit. In February 2019, the Government again recognized his contribution to Jamaican music again, with a Reggae Gold Award from the Jamaica Reggae Industry Association.