Twenty-five years ago, Andrew Tosh got news every relative dreads, as he was summoned to the morgue to identify his father, reggae star Peter Tosh.
The singer had been shot and killed on September 11 at his St Andrew home. It was a morbid moment his son says he will never forget.
"It was super-emotional, I was at a dance on Hagley Park Road (in St Andrew) when I heard about it. It was a shock," he recalled.
Andrew Tosh says he had last seen his father one month earlier. Though his dad gained a reputation for knocking the system, Tosh's music has endured, largely through re-issue of his albums. Other persons in the singer's inner circle, including his girlfriend Marlene Brown and drummer Carlton 'Santa' Davis, were injured in the incident. It is a night Andrew Tosh remembers vividly.
Andrew recalls his father's legacy as headliner for the 25th Memorial Salute show at Bourbon Beach in Negril, Westmoreland, the parish where Peter Tosh was born in 1944. "I'm 150 per cent in gear to keep his legacy alive. Peter was no ordinary man, he was a writer with a lot of depth," said Tosh.
A founding member of the Wailers group along with Bob Marley and Neville 'Bunny Wailer' Livingston, Peter Tosh won thousands of admirers for his outspoken stance on issues like legalisation of marijuana and black majority rule in Africa.
Andrew Tosh believes "For the Government to identify him with the OM, shows he's getting there when it comes to respect," he said.
The younger Tosh is also a singer/songwriter who has recorded seven albums which include two cover tributes to his father's work. His latest, What a Gwaan, is scheduled to be released in October.