TULSA, Okla. — Local celebrity Ronnie Wilson, a founding member of the Gap Band, has died.
According to TMZ, Wilson's wife Linda Boulware-Wilson confirms he passed around 10 a.m. on Tuesday in his home in Tulsa after suffering a stroke last week. She writes her husband was a “genius with creating, producing and playing the flugelhorn, trumpet, keyboards and singing music.”
Along with his brothers Charlie and Robert, Wilson grew up in Tulsa. The Gap Band gets its name from abbreviating the street names of Greenwood, Archer, and Pine. The Wilsons grew up not far from the area.
The Gap Band grew in popularity in the 1970s and even went on to tour with another Oklahoma native, Leon Russell. The Church Studio remembers Wilson by writing:
The Gap Band received its first big break by being the backup band for Leon Russel’s “Stop All That Jazz,” released in 1974, and then recorded their first album, “Magicians Holiday” with us in 1975. Prayers to friends and family.
Wilson was 73 years old.
Trending Stories:
- Tulsa police lieutenant, officer charged in shooting cover-up
- DOWNLOAD the 2 News Oklahoma app for alerts
- Community mourns loss of Pioneer Woman's brother
- FOLLOW 2 News Oklahoma on Facebook
- Family buys more than 100 acres in Broken Arrow for upcoming 'amazing venture'
Stay in touch with us anytime, anywhere --
- Download our free app for Apple, Android and Kindle devices.
- Sign up for daily newsletters emailed to you
- Like us on Facebook
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Twitter
