World of Jamaican Music

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An illustrated map of the creators of Jamaican music and how they are connected.

Remembering Derrick Harriott (1939-2026), rocksteady singer and producer. Read his story →

Donald Kinsey

Artist. Reggae

Active
1971-2024
Sunrise
May 12, 1953, Gary, Indiana
Sunset
February 6, 2024, Merrillville, Indiana

Donald Kinsey was an American blues guitarist who played with both Peter Tosh and Bob Marley in the mid-1970s.

He was born in Gary, Indiana, one of three sons of the Chicago bluesman Lester "Big Daddy" Kinsey, and performed in his father's band as a small child, billed as B.B. King Jr. Out of high school he toured with Albert King and came to lead his band, then formed White Lightnin' with his brother Ralph. That group was signed to Island, which is how he came to reggae.

He played on Tosh's Legalize It (1976) and toured with him in Word Sound and Power, then joined the Wailers for Rastaman Vibration. He was at 56 Hope Road during the rehearsal on December 3, 1976, when gunmen fired into the house, sheltering behind a road case, and played the Smile Jamaica concert two days later. He returned to Tosh afterward, staying until 1984 and playing on six albums, and also backed the Staple Singers. Albert King had taught him to slow down, since listeners would not remember fast runs, and he came to believe that a solo "should enhance whatever the song is all about musically."

In 1984 he formed the Kinsey Report with his brothers Ralph and Kenneth and the guitarist Ron Prince, recording for Alligator. He rejoined the Wailers Band and played on One World (2020), which was nominated for the reggae Grammy. He departed in Merrillville, Indiana, on February 6, 2024, at seventy, three weeks after his brother Ralph and three days after Aston Barrett; the cause was complications of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Last updated November 5, 2026

Connections

Notes

  1. Alligator Records' band biography says that by thirteen he was playing with his father around Gary, billed as "Big Daddy Kinsey and B.B. King, Jr." "The Kinsey Report," Alligator Records, accessed October 1, 2026, https://www.alligator.com/artists/The-Kinsey-Report/.
  2. The Alligator biography says Albert King recruited him in 1972 "as his rhythm guitarist" and that he appeared on King's Stax albums I Wanna Get Funky and Montreux Festival; the Observer says he was in King's band at sixteen. "The Kinsey Report," Alligator Records. "Wailer Donald Kinsey Passes On," Jamaica Observer, February 13, 2024, https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/2024/02/13/wailer-donald-kinsey-passes/.
  3. The Alligator biography says White Lightning, with Ralph Kinsey and bassist Busta "Cherry" Jones, made a Felix Pappalardi-produced album for Island, and that at an Island reception in New York he met Marley, "who in turn introduced him to Peter Tosh." "The Kinsey Report," Alligator Records. The Observer dates his first meeting with Marley to 1975. "Wailer Donald Kinsey Passes On."
  4. The Alligator biography says Tosh invited him to play on Legalize It and then to tour, and that after a year with Tosh, Marley asked him to overdub guitar on Rastaman Vibration; he moved to Jamaica in 1976 and toured with the Wailers. "The Kinsey Report," Alligator Records.
  5. Wikipedia says he shielded himself with a heavy road case during the attack and played the concert two days later. "Donald Kinsey," Wikipedia, accessed October 1, 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Kinsey. The Observer says instead that, "fearing further attacks, Kinsey left the country before the show." "Wailer Donald Kinsey Passes On." In Steffens's oral history Stephen Davis gives Kinsey's account that he was with Marley and Don Taylor when Marley was shot, and that the gunman "could have killed him" but fired in "a sort of vague, general direction"; Tyrone Downie recalls that "Donald Kinsey came out of the rehearsal room too": Roger Steffens, "The Night Bob Marley Got Shot," Rolling Stone (Australia), July 10, 2017, https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/the-night-bob-marley-got-shot-1877, an excerpt from Roger Steffens, So Much Things to Say: The Oral History of Bob Marley (New York: W. W. Norton, 2017).
  6. The Alligator biography says he left the Wailers after "an assassination attempt on Marley's life," toured briefly with the Staple Singers, and rejoined Tosh for Bush Doctor and the opening slot on the Rolling Stones' 1978 US tour; he later played on Mama Africa and arranged its "Johnny B. Goode." "The Kinsey Report," Alligator Records.
  7. Jas Obrecht, "Donald Kinsey on Playing with Bob Marley," Talking Guitar, December 27, 2022, https://jasobrecht.substack.com/p/donald-kinsey-on-playing-with-bob, from a 1985 interview.
  8. The Alligator biography says the Kinsey Report formed in 1984, when Donald returned home to re-form the family band with Ralph, Kenneth, Ron Prince, and their father, and that its first album, Edge of the City (1988), was on Alligator. "The Kinsey Report," Alligator Records.
  9. Wikipedia says One World (2020), produced by Emilio Estefan, was nominated for the Grammy for Best Reggae Album. "Donald Kinsey," Wikipedia.
  10. The Observer reports his death on February 6, three days after Aston Barrett's. "Wailer Donald Kinsey Passes On." Wikipedia gives Merrillville, Indiana, and dates Ralph Kinsey's death to January 17. "Donald Kinsey," Wikipedia.

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