ANDREW TOSH BIOGRAFIA

"I've been singing away my heart since basic school," recalls

Andrew Tosh, the tall, slender third son of reggae legend Peter

Tosh.

Born on June 19, 1967 in Kingston, Jamaica, Andrew seemed

preordained for a life in music. Among his earliest memories are

trips to the countryside of Westmoreland on the rural western end

of the island. There, along the lush banks of a swiftly running

river, he and his father would sing songs together - not just

Peter's militant compositions, but also pop classics by the likes

of Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles and Kenny Rogers. Andrew notes that

"Peter always knew I would do something in the music business, so

he encouraged me to study piano, 'cause he knew I loved it. From

the start it was inside me to sing and play instruments." The first

song he learned was Peter's composition "You Can't Blame the

Youth," and from that point forward, he says, "I knew that my

heartbeat was music and one day it would just be music out of my

mouth, and writing and singing my own songs."

Throughout his elementary and high school days in Duhaney Park

on the outskirts of Kingston, Andrew was constantly pulled to the

forefront of the class and made to sing lead. At 14, in emulation

of his father, Andrew began to ride a unicycle too. Although Peter

was often on the road, performing tours that remain to this day

reggae's most lengthy and successful ones, Andrew spent much of his

childhood living in Peter's house, especially between the critical

ages of 12 and 15.

His first recording came in 1985, when he cut a song he wrote

called "Vanity Lover" for Neville Lee's Gorgon label. A keen

observer of the vibrant music scene in Kingston, Andrew was

checking out some of the new talent at that city's famous Skateland

dancehall on the evening his father was murdered - Friday,

September 11, 1987. "I felt my father's spirit come right there at

Skateland where I was," he says, "and the spirit said leave that

place right now." The impact of the elder Tosh's passing made an

immediate and life-changing impression. "I tell myself that Peter

Tosh is gone and it's my need to carry on. Not for want, and not

for the lust of fame and the glamor and want to be rich. No, for

the love of my art and the love of my people, because love carry no

color. Love is love and that's what Jah say, make a joyful noise

unto Me."

Ironically, the first glimpse the public got of Andrew's

nascent talent came when he sang at his father's funeral in the

National Arena in Kingston. His version of Peter's "Jah Guide"

stunned the mourners. "I was astonished myself on stage," he

recalls. "The other song I did was 'Equal Rights,' because everyone

is crying out for peace but none is crying out for justice. When I

came down off the stage, I couldn't stop crying."

Late the following year, he tested the international waters

with a pair of memorable performances in Southern California,

including a show-stopping turn on the stage of Burbank's Starlight

Amphitheater, the site of the final appearance together of Bob

Marley and Peter Tosh. Was he nervous? "I felt elevension," he

laughs, engaging in some of the crafty wordplay for which his

father was notorious. "It was way beyond tension."

From that point, Andrew began working under the guidance of

keyboardist Keith Sterling and his bandmates, Fully Fullwood and

Santa Davis, the bass and drum team from Peter's most ferocious

backing group, Word Sound and Power. Andrew began to tour, wowing

audiences in Europe as well as North and South America. He has been

especially successful in Brazil, where he has appeared several

times in Sao Paulo, Rio, and Curitiba. His first album, Original

Man, was a mixture of his tracks and those of his father. The

follow-up, Make Place for the Youth, indicated a new maturity to

his song-writing, and was well received, earning him a Grammy

nomination. Currently, he has produced a major tribute to his

father, (executive-produced by Bunny Wailer), called Andrew Sings

Tosh, which shall be released shortly.

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Andrew Tosh (born Andrew McIntosh, 19 June 1967, Kingston, Jamaica), is a reggae singer and the son of the late Peter Tosh. He is the nephew of reggae singer Bunny Wailer, an original member of The Wailers.

Tosh was exposed to the music of his father's group The Wailers from an early age, his mother, Shirley Livingstone, also being the sister of Bunny Wailer. His first recording session was in 1985, produced by Charlie Chaplin, and resulting in the single "Vanity Love". After his father was shot dead in 1987, he performed two songs at his funeral, "Jah Guide" and "Equal Rights".

He moved on to work with producer Winston Holness on his debut album, Original Man. This was followed in 1989 by a second album, Make Place For The Youth, which was recorded in the United States and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album.

He toured with The Wailers Band in 1991.

In 2004, he recorded an album of songs by his father, Andrew Sings Tosh: He Never Died.