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The Gap Band’s Ronnie Wilson Dead at 73

Ronnie founded The Gap Band with his brothers Charlie and Robert Wilson in the late 1960s.

It is with a heavy heart that we at The Root report that Ronnie Wilson, founding member of The Gap Band, has transitioned. He was 73.

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According to CNN, his wife, Linda Boulware-Wilson, broke the news when she posted on Facebook that the multi-instrumentalist had died on Tuesday morning after suffering a stroke last week.

โ€œThe love of my life was called home this morning, at 10:01am,โ€ she wrote. โ€œPlease continue to pray for The Wilson, Boulware, and Collins family, while we mourn his passing. Ronnie Wilson was a genius with creating, producing, and playing the flugelhorn, trumpet, keyboards, and singing music, from childhood to his early seventies. He will be truly missed!!!โ€

Brothers Ronnie, Charlie, and Robert Wilson grew up singing in their fatherโ€™s church before eventually forming The Gap Band in Tulsa, Okla., during the late 1960s. The name of their band was a tribute to Greenwood, Archer, and Pine, which are three streets located in a prominent Black neighborhood that was the target of the infamous 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre.

After struggling to find success with their first two releases, 1974โ€™s Magicians Holiday and 1977โ€™s self-titled The Gap Band, the group signed with Los Angeles-based producer Lonnie Simmonsโ€™ production company, Total Experience Productions. Soon after, they rose to fame with a string of classics such as โ€œShake,โ€ โ€œOops Up Side Your Head,โ€ โ€œYearning for Your Love,โ€ โ€œParty Train,โ€ and โ€œOutstanding,โ€ which has been sampled by more than 150 artists according to the bandโ€™s management company, P Music Group.

On Twitter, friends and fans of Wilson have taken to the platform to celebrate his legacy and offer their condolences.

โ€œMy friend Ronnie Wilson went to be with Jesus yesterday at the age of 73,โ€ Twitter user Melanie Robison tweeted. โ€œHe was one of the kindest, gentlest, and funniest men Iโ€™ve ever been honored to know. Thank you for singing with us at CBC for many years. Go rest high on that ๐Ÿ”, your work on Earth is done. #gapbandโ€

https://twitter.com/melrob66/status/1455935301449302028?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/MargueritteEch/status/1455881525338247176?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/IwuKemani/status/1455959087586365446?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

We at The Root offer our thoughts and prayers to the Wilson family.

ย ย 

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