Ronnie Wilson, a founding member of the popular funk and R&B group the Gap Band alongside his brothers Charlie Wilson and Robert Wilson, has died. Ronnie’s wife Linda Boulware-Wilson confirmed the news to TMZ, saying he died Tuesday morning after suffering a stroke last week. In a statement, Boulware-Wilson called him a “genius with creating, producing and playing the flugelhorn, trumpet, keyboards and singing music.” He was 73.
The Wilson brothers grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The name of their band is an abbreviation for Greenwood, Archer, and Pine—prominent streets in the Black Tulsa neighborhood targeted by a white mob in the 1921 Tulsa race massacre. Ronnie and his brothers grew up blocks away from that area.
The Gap Band’s first album Magicians Holiday was released in 1974. Their biggest records arrived in the early 1980s. Gap Band III from 1980 featured “Burn Rubber on Me,” while 1982’s Gap Band IV included “You Dropped a Bomb on Me” and “Outstanding.” The band remained prolific throughout the ’80s and released multiple albums in the ’90s. Robert Wilson died in 2010 at age 53.
In addition to his multi-instrumentalist and songwriting work in the Gap Band, Ronnie Wilson produced records for multiple artists, including Goodie’s 1982 album Call Me Goodie. By the ’00s, he was active in music ministry at a San Antonio church. In recent years, he sued his brother Charlie Wilson, claiming his brother was interfering with his plans for a new touring effort called the New Gap Band.
While the Gap Band have been credited as an influence on new jack swing, their sound has been sampled endlessly. The group’s songs have been sampled by N.W.A (on “Straight Outta Compton”), Nas, Janet Jackson, Snoop Dogg, Public Enemy, Tyler, the Creator, Ice Cube, Mary J. Blige, and many others. The group have a songwriting credit on “Uptown Funk” due to similarities to their song “Oops Upside Your Head.”
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