Charlie Wilson (singer)
Charles Kent Wilson (born January 29, 1953), also known as Uncle Charlie, is an American singer, musician, songwriter, and the former lead vocalist of The Gap Band. As a solo artist Wilson has been nominated for 13 Grammy Awards and 11 NAACP Image Awards (including two wins), received a 2009 Soul Train Icon Award, and was a recipient of a BMI Icon Award in 2005. In 2009 and 2020, he was named Billboard magazine's No. 1 Adult R&B Artist, and his song "There Goes My Baby"[1] was named the No. 1 Urban Adult Song for 2009 in Billboard.
For other people named Charles Wilson, see Charles Wilson (disambiguation).
Charlie Wilson
Charles Kent Wilson
Uncle Charlie
January 29, 1953
Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.
- Singer
- musician
- songwriter
- record producer
- Vocals
- keyboards
- organ
- drums
1972–present
On June 30, 2013, BET honored Wilson with a Lifetime Achievement Award.
Wilson is the national spokesman of the Prostate Cancer Foundation, where there is a Creativity Award in his name. The organization donates hundreds of thousands of dollars a year to cancer research across the United States.
Early life[edit]
Charlie Wilson was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on January 29, 1953; he was the son of the Reverend Oscar Wilson, a minister in the Church of God in Christ. With his older brother Ronnie and younger brother Robert, Wilson often sang in church before their father's Sunday sermons, accompanied on piano by their mother. He also sang in his junior high school's choir, which was a precursor to his musical career with the Gap Band and later his solo career. He attended high school at Booker T. Washington High School. He attended Langston University and would go on to become drum major in the Langston University Marching Pride.
Career[edit]
The Gap Band[edit]
From the start of his career, Charlie and his brothers, Robert and Ronnie, helped define and popularize an upbeat form of funk music that was infectious and lasting with their group The Gap Band. Magicians Holiday was the debut album by The Gap Band in 1974 on Shelter Records founded by Leon Russell and Denny Cordell. The band recorded at The Church Studio, a historic recording studio in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The group's songs such as "Outstanding", "Party Train", "Yearning for Your Love", "Burn Rubber on Me", "You Dropped a Bomb on Me", and "Oops Upside Your Head" are among their immense catalog and some of the most sampled songs in music history. After 15 albums the Gap Band announced their retirement in 2010.
Personal life[edit]
In 1995, Wilson married Mahin Tat. They met in that same year, when she was his social worker during his time in a drug rehabilitation program. Since 1995, Wilson has been clean from his cocaine and alcohol addictions that led him into becoming homeless and to begin sleeping on the streets of Hollywood Boulevard from 1993 to 1995.[13]
In 2008, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and treated successfully with implants. He has since worked with the Prostate Cancer Foundation, encouraging Black men to be tested for the disease.[13] He has also spread awareness by providing vocals for Lupe Fiasco's single, titled "Mission", which focuses on cancer survivors.