Ray Wilson (musician)
| Ray Wilson | |
|---|---|
Ray Wilson at Leamington Spa 2006
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| Background information | |
| Born |
8 September 1968 Dumfries, Scotland |
| Genres | Rock, pop, post-grunge |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, guitarist |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar, bass, harmonica |
| Years active | 1990–present |
| Labels | InsideOut Music, Virgin |
| Associated acts |
Stiltskin Genesis Cut_ Guaranteed Pure |
| Website | www |
Raymond Wilson (born 8 September 1968) is a Scottish musician, best known as vocalist in the post-grunge band Stiltskin, and in Genesis from 1996 to 1998.
Wilson started off in a band called Guaranteed Pure in the 1990, which featured himself along with Paul Holmes (keyboards), Steve Wilson (guitars), John Haimes (bass) and Chris Cavanagh (drums). They released an album called Swing Your Bag, the title track of which was included on a compilation album on the label of Fish entitled The Funny Farm Project : Outpatients '93. He then joined Stiltskin; they released one album and had a No. 1 hit in the UK with the single "Inside".
Wilson joined Genesis as the band's lead singer after Phil Collins officially announced his departure in March 1996. Founding Genesis members Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford were handed a CD of the Stiltskin album The Mind's Eye from Virgin Records executives. They were impressed with Wilson's vocal abilities and had their manager, Tony Smith, contact him for an audition. Wilson was announced as the new lead singer of Genesis in June 1997. Their only album with Wilson, ...Calling All Stations..., was released that September and became a top 10 worldwide hit, except for the U.S. where it reached No. 54 on the Billboard 200 album charts. The album was re-issued in 2007. Genesis toured Europe in winter 1997 spring 1998, but the American leg was cancelled due to low ticket sales. The band went on an extended hiatus after the critical failure of the album.
In May 2001, during an interview with Dave Negrin for website WorldofGenesis.com, Wilson said:
They basically phoned me up and said, "Ray, we're not continuing." I've never really felt that I was out of the band as such; it's just that the band doesn't exist any more (laughs). When I heard that, it was just after the Cut tour, about a year and a half ago. I've read some articles saying that I was fired and stuff, but to be fair to them, they didn't phone me up and say, "Ray, you're fired. We're going to carry on and we're going to get somebody else to sing." Or, "We're going to carry on and get Phil back." There was never any of that. They just said, "We've decided not to continue because the market doesn't want us." I think they didn't want to completely close the door to ever doing anything again.
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Wikipedia