The Rise and Fall and Rise of Charlie Wilson

Even if you don’t know Charlie Wilson‘s name, you know his voice. As the lead singer of The Gap Band, Wilson defined the sound of R&B and funk in the 1980s with hits like “You Dropped a Bomb on Me,” “Burn Rubber on Me,” and “Outstanding.” That sound went on to influence generations of singers like R. Kelly, Justin Timberlake, and D’Angelo.

Music ran in his family — Wilson’s mother, a music teacher and administrator, taught him how to play, and his father, a Pentecostal preacher, gave him his first gig as a warmup act on Sunday mornings. But his deeply devout mother was suspicious of secular music, all of which she called “the blues.” “As a kid, we had to go next door to listen to any secular music,” Wilson tells Kurt Andersen. He remembers first hearing Stevie Wonder on his next-door neighbor’s stereo. “I was like, I want to be able to do that!” he recalls. “My momma was like, no, you’re not singing any blues.”

Although their mother remained skeptical, when they were in high school, Wilson and his older brother both started bands. “I joined my brother’s band because we were stealing his crowds,” he says. They named their merged band, which included Charlie’s brothers Ronnie and Robert, after the main streets in their Tulsa neighborhood: The Greenwood, Archer, and Pine Street Band. When that wouldn’t fit on a concert flyer, they shortened it to The Gap Band. Their fellow Oklahoman Leon Russell gave them an early break, which led to a gig opening for the Rolling Stones.

After cutting their teeth as a live band in the 1970s, in the 80s they had a string of chart-dominating hits. But while The Gap Band’s music was going strong, Wilson’s life was coming apart, as he recounts in his new memoir, I Am Charlie Wilson. He got addicted to cocaine and alcohol and ended up living on the streets of Hollywood. When friends or fans recognized him on the streets, looking wrung out, he would explain that he had been up all night in the recording studio. “I used that all the time,” Wilson says. “I would hide out in different places and sleep in bushes.” After years on the street, Wilson’s cousin got him into a 28-day rehab program. There, he met the social worker who would become his wife and help him turn his life around.

Now, Wilson has returned to claim his place in the pop firmament. After cleaning up, a series of collaborations with Snoop Dogg led to work with Justin Timberlake, Pharrell Williams, and Kanye West, while a series of solo albums have topped the R&B charts. He explains that it was slow going at first. “When I got myself together, everybody in this business turned me down,” Wilson says. “For 10 years, I looked for just somebody to sign me.” But, with his wife’s encouragement, he stuck with it. “I’ve got the heart of a giant, a king and a lion,” he says. “Trust me, just give me the microphone and I’ll prove to you what I’m talking about.”

Video: The Gap Band’s “Oops Upside Your Head”

Video: Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars’ “Uptown Funk”
(The Gap Band now shares writing credit on this Billboard hit)