Ray Wilson (musician)

Ray Wilson
Ray Wilson at Leamington Spa 2006
Background information
Born	(1968-09-08) 8 September 1968 Dumfries, Scotland
Genres	Rock, pop, post-grunge
Occupation(s)	Singer, guitarist
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, bass, harmonica
Years active	1990[1]–present
Labels	InsideOut Music, Virgin
Associated acts	Stiltskin Genesis Cut_ Guaranteed Pure
Website	www.raywilson.co.uk

Raymond Wilson (born 8 September 1968, Dumfries, Scotland) is a Scottish musician, best known as vocalist in the post-grunge band Stiltskin, and in Genesis from 1996 to 1998.^[2]

Early career/Stiltskin

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).^[3] 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.^[4] He then joined Stiltskin; they released one album and had a No. 1 hit in the UK with the single "Inside".

Genesis

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,^[5] 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.

Solo career

Wilson went on to release the album Millionairhead with a solo project called Cut_. It was remastered in 2007 with three additional songs added.

In 2003 he released a solo album under his own name titled Change. The next year he released another studio album entitled The Next Best Thing, which included yet another cover of "Inside". In 2006 he released another Stiltskin album called She, and in 2007 a Stiltskin live CD featuring (amongst others) 8 of the 12 songs from She. This live CD was recorded 25 October 2006, at Harmonie, Bonn, Germany.

DJ and trance producer Armin van Buuren has produced remixes of the songs "Another Day" (retitled "Yet Another Day") and "Gypsy" from Millionairhead. Both remixes have been released on van Buuren's own albums, and "Yet Another Day" was also released as a single.

In 2014, the first Ray Wilson biography, Gypsy, by journalist Mario Giammetti, was published in Italy (Edizioni Segno).

Concerts with Steve Hackett

In 2013 Wilson joined Steve Hackett for his "Genesis Revisited II" Tour as a guest singer. He was featured in a special edition of the "Genesis Revisited II" album on the track "The Carpet Crawlers". It was the first time since 1998 that Ray had worked with a fellow Genesis member; albeit one he had not performed with as a member of the band.

Discography

Solo releases

Studio albums

• Change (2003) – No. 88 Germany
• The Next Best Thing (2004)
• Propaganda Man (2008)
• Chasing Rainbows (2013)
• Song for a Friend (2016)
• Makes Me Think of Home (2016)

Live albums

• Live and Acoustic (2002) (previously entitled "Unplugged")
• Ray Wilson Live (2005)
• An Audience and Ray Wilson (2006) (limited edition CD and download)
• Ray Wilson and the Berlin Symphony Ensemble, Genesis Klassik Live In Berlin (2009)
• Ray Wilson and the Berlin Symphony Ensemble, Genesis Classic Live In Poznan (2011)
• Up Close And Personal - Live At SWR1 (2014)
• Genesis VS Stiltskin - 20 Years and More (2014)

Singles

• "Change" (March 2003)
• "Goodbye Baby Blue" (September 2003)
• "These Are the Changes" (June 2004)

Stiltskin

Studio albums

• The Mind's Eye (1994) – No. 12 UK, No. 11 Germany, No. 10 Austria, No. 76 Netherlands, No. 13 Sweden, No. 13 Switzerland,
• She (2006)
• Unfulfillment (2011)^[6]

Live albums

• Stiltskin Live (2007)

Singles

• "Inside" (1994) – No. 1 UK, No. 5 Germany, No. 2 Austria, No. 9 France, No. 7 Netherlands, No. 5 Norway, No. 4 Sweden, No. 5 Switzerland, No. 40 Australia, No. 20 New Zealand
• "Footsteps" (1994) – No. 34 UK, No. 34 Switzerland, No. 36 New Zealand
• "Rest in Peace" (1995) – No. 47 UK
• "She" (2006)
• "Lemon Yellow Sun" (2006)

Genesis

Studio albums

• Calling All Stations (1997) – No. 2 UK, No. 54 US

Singles

• "Congo" (September 1997) – No. 29 UK, No. 35 Austria, No. 31 Germany, No. 32 Switzerland, No. 25 US Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks
• "Shipwrecked" (December 1997) – No. 54 UK, No. 82 Germany
• "Not About Us" (March 1998) – No. 66 UK, No. 81 Germany

Cut_

Studio albums

• Millionairhead (1999)

Singles

• "Another Day" (1999; Germany-only single)
• "Sarah" (1999)
• "Millionairhead" / "Sarah" (1999; radio promo)

Guaranteed Pure

• Swing Your Bag (1993)

Collaborations

• 2000 "Big City Nights" (with Scorpions) (Moment of Glory)
• 2002 "Love Supreme" Turntablerocker (Smile)
• 2003 "Good Time Love" (with Amanda Lyon) (A tribute to Frank Miller: various artists album)
• 2003 "Yet Another Day" (with Armin Van Buuren) (76) – No. 70 UK, No. 34 Netherlands
• 2005 "Gypsy" (with Armin Van Buuren) (Shivers)
• 2005 "Roses" (with RPWL) (World Through My Eyes)
• 2005 "Roses (live)" & "Not about us (live)"(with RPWL) (Start The Fire: RPWL Live)
• 2010 "Should I Wait" (with Twentyeight) (In The Beginning)
• 2013 "Carpet Crawlers" (with Steve Hackett) (Genesis Revisited II: Selection)
• 2015 "Taking The Easy Way Out" (with The Veterans) (HOUSESESSION IBIZA IMS 2015 SAMPLER)

Personal life

Wilson is the cousin of Ian Wilson, better known as Ian Catskilkin, of the UK indie band, Art Brut.

In 2007, after a concert in Poland, Wilson met the dancer Małgorzata Mielech. After a few months of dating, he left Edinburgh and moved to Poznań in September 2008.^[7][8] As of 2011, the couple were engaged.^[9]

References

External links

• Official website