Aston Barrett, bassist for Bob Marley and the Wailers, died on Saturday at 77 years old. Barrett’s death was shared by Jamaica’s minister of culture on X (formerly Twitter) in a series of tweets. Olivia Grange began, “I share with you my deep regret at the passing of Aston Francis Barrett, CD, popularly known as ‘Family Man’ or ‘Fams.’”
“As a bass player, keyboardist and guitarist, he was one of the two famed Barrett brothers, Aston and Carlton, who were part of Bob Marley and the Wailers,” Grange continued, “and Lee Scratch Perry and the Upsetters in the early years of Reggae Music.