The Wailers Bring Roots, Rock & Reggae to SOPAC 10/ 12

The Wailers are the band that brought the late and great Bob Marley and Reggae music to the mainstream with smash hits like "One Love" and "Waiting in Vain". After more than a decade away from the stage, the Wailers will once again bring the love to the SOPAC stage on Thursday, October 12 at 7:30 p.m. The opening artist is Adam Falcon. WBGO on-air personality Sheila Anderson will moderate a Q&A with the Wailer's Junior Marvin immediately following the performance.

The Wailers band had been in existence since the early '60s, but began to gain greater popularity beginning in 1974, when it was led by front man Bob Marley. Exodus was named Best Album of the Century by Time Magazine, and their hit song "One Love" was named Song of the Millennium the same year by the BBC. The band and Marley develop a unique sound and it was a combination of the instrumentation and the Ska and Reggae traditions that added to their success. The "I Three", The Wailers backup singers, were added during that time as well.

Bob Marley and the Wailers achieved great success, yet it was short-lived when Bob Marley met an untimely death in 1981 due to cancer at the young age of 36. After Marley's death the band broke up, though the popularity of Reggae has only grown with continued play of 1977's Exodus.

The Wailers Band went their separate ways, never to perform again with any significant amount of the core membership that made them so exceptional. Never, that is, until now, when The Wailers Reunited project has at last come into being. Marley's legacy lives on as the band reunites to celebrate the music that continues to spread the message of peace, love and unity to this day.

The Wailers will bring their legendary talents and feel good music to the South Orange Performing Arts Center on Thursday, October 12 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $43-$53. They can be purchased online at http://www.sopacnow.org/wailers/ or by calling the box office at (973) 313-2787.

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