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Ray Wilson

NME.com feature on Ray Wilson including news, reviews, biography, youtube video, audio, concerts, tour dates, photos, pictures, commentary, album reviews and live reviews and cool facts.

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YouTube Ray Wilson Videos

RPWL - Not About Us (with Ray Wilson) Play Video

RPWL - Not About Us (with Ray Wilson)

From Crossroads RPWL 2005. Ray Wilson Special Guest (vocals, acoustic guitar).

Ray Wilson: "Another Day in Paradise" in Dresden, 8.8.09 Play Video

Ray Wilson: "Another Day in Paradise" in Dresden, 8.8.09

The Ray Wilson Band & the Berlin Symphony Ensemble open air at Schloss Pillnitz near Dresden on August 8, 2009

Ray Wilson: Carpet Crawlers - Genesis Klassik, Salzgitter July 8, 2009 Play Video

Ray Wilson: Carpet Crawlers - Genesis Klassik, Salzgitter July 8, 2009

Ray Wilson & Band, featuring the Berlin Symphony Ensemble at their first show together, performing "Carpet Crawlers" in Salzgitter, Kulturscheune, on July 8, 2009.

Stiltskin-Inside (Original video) Play Video

Stiltskin-Inside (Original video)

Ray Wilson with Stiltskin-Inside (Original video) 1994 Levi's 501 commercial music

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Ray Wilson Biography

Ray Wilson (born 8 September 1968, Dumfries, Scotland) is a Scottish musician, best known as vocalist in the post-grunge band Stiltskin, and in Genesis between 1996 and 1998.

Wilson started off in a "band" called Guaranteed Pure in the early 1990s. 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 number one hit in the UK with the single "Inside".

Wilson is probably best known as the lead singer of Genesis from 1996 to 1998, after Phil Collins officially departed 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 very impressed with Wilson's vocal abilities and had their manager, Tony Smith, call him for an audition. Wilson was officially announced as the new lead singer of Genesis in early June 1997. Their only album with Wilson, ...Calling All Stations..., was released that September and became a top 10 hit worldwide, except for the U.S. where it reached #54 on the Billboard 200 album charts; it would soon become the first Genesis album to be deleted in North America, but was re-issued in 2007. Genesis toured Europe in the winter and spring of 1998, but the American leg was cancelled due to low ticket sales. After the commercial failure of the album, the band announced they would go on an extended hiatus, and Wilson left the band.

Wilson went on to release the album Millionairhead with a solo project called Cut_. It was re-released in 2007 (remastered) including three additional songs. But still no sales ensued.

In 2003 he released a solo album under his own name titled Change which failed to make an impression on the charts in any country. The next year he released another studio album entitled The Next Best Thing, which included yet another a cover of "Inside". In 2006 he released another Stiltskin album called She (which failed to chart anywhere), 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. No chart positions ensued.

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

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