Beverley Kelso (born April 1948)
, ''

Jamaica Gleaner ''The Gleaner'' is an English-language, morning daily newspaper founded by two brothers, Jacob and Joshua de Cordova on 13 September 1834 in Kingston, Jamaica. Originally called the ''Daily Gleaner'', the name was changed on 7 December 1992 to ' ...

'', 30 March 2014. Retrieved 30 March 2014 is a

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

n singer best known as an early member of

The Wailers ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

. Born in

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley Inter ...

, she attended Miss Nembhard Preparatory School and Denham Town Primary School in Kingston. She was a backing

vocalist Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

, and one of the founding members of

(between 1963 and 1965). According to Kelso, she sang on 25 tracks by the group, the last in late 1965. Kelso emigrated to the United States in 1979.Walters, Basil (2012)
Kelso says It Hurts To Be Alone
, ''

Jamaica Observer ''Jamaica Observer'' is a daily newspaper published in Kingston, Jamaica. The publication is owned by Butch Stewart, who chartered the paper in January 1993 as a competitor to Jamaica's oldest daily paper, ''The Gleaner''. Its founding editor i ...

'', 5 August 2012, retrieved 6 August 2012 The deaths of

Junior Braithwaite Franklin Delano Alexander "Junior" Braithwaite (4 April 1949 – 2 June 1999) was a reggae musician from Kingston, Jamaica and the youngest member of the vocal group, The Wailing Wailers. Early career The Wailing Wailers was a vocal group Bob ...

in 1999, of

Cherry Smith Cherry Smith (born Ermine Ortense Bramwell, 22 August 1943 – 24 September 2008) was a backing vocalist for the original Wailers from 1963 to 1966. She was also called Cherry Green (her half-brother Carlton had that surname). Early beginnin ...

in 2008, and of

Bunny Wailer Neville O'Riley Livingston (10 April 1947 – 2 March 2021), known professionally as Bunny Wailer, was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and percussionist. He was an original member of reggae group The Wailers along with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. ...

in 2021 have left Kelso as the only surviving founding member of the Wailers. In 2012 she stated that she was planning to write a book about her time in The Wailers. She now lives in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

References

1948 births Living people Musicians from Kingston, Jamaica 20th-century Jamaican women singers The Wailers members {{Jamaica-musician-stub