and “angel” believed in him even when he had given up on himself, and credited her with his rebound rise to the top.
Wilson, the rhythm and blues (R&B), soul singer and lead vocalist for The Gap Band, has been nominated for four Grammy Awards, including two this year for Best R&B Album for “Uncle Charlie” and Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for “Can’t Live Without You.” He lost out on both nominations to the same man, Maxwell.
But Wilson’s double nomination shows just how far he has come during the past decade; a rebound for which he largely credits his Iranian-American wife, Mahin Tat.
Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Wilson, 57, began singing in church when he was only three years old. He pursued music as a career in the 1970s, beginning The Gap Band with his two brothers Ronnie and Robert.
The American funk band took off in the late 1970s and quickly rose to fame with hits songs including: “You Dropped the Bomb on Me,” Yearning for Your Love,” “I Found my Baby” and “Party Train.” But the group’s popularity soon waned and Wilson found himself on the streets.
“We went from rags to famous, from famous to rags. We never got the riches. It took a toll on us, and we decided to quit,” Wilson told USA Today.
Not only did Wilson’s money disappear, but his drug problem worsened and drove him to the streets—where he lived from 1993 to 1995.
“I had no home, no money,” he said. “You could still hear my records on the radio. People gave me drugs because they thought I was still on top. Nobody knew I was down and out.”
Things changed again for Wilson in 1995, when he ran into one of his cousins who convinced him to go to rehab. Wilson started a 28-day program in Acton, which is about 50 miles north of Los Angeles. It was in rehab that he met Mahin, who was one of the rehab directors at the center.
Wilson didn’t initially take the rehab program seriously, until Tat—who wasn’t yet his wife—confronted him. “This lady [Tat] called me in and said, ‘Mr. Wilson, I notice you’ve been sleeping in class, not paying attention. What are you going to do when you get out?’ I told her I had nowhere to go,” he told USA Today.
During a weekend pass away from rehab, Tat rented Wilson a furnished house in nearby Palmdale.
When Wilson asked her for a car, she refused, explaining that because of his addiction he would inevitably drive himself to buy drugs or alcohol. Wilson told Tat he couldn’t live on his own, and later asked her to marry and move in with him.
The couple has been married for five years. Wilson credits her with keeping him sober, boosting his confidence, booking his band shows and eventually getting him back on stage.
Wilson said rapper Snoop Dogg—who dubbed Wilson “Uncle Charlie”—also helped get him back into the business after he enlisted Wilson on recordings in 1996. Mahine’s son, Michael Paran, also helped get the singer back on his feet, serving for two years without pay as The Gap Band’s manager. Paran helped rebuild the band’s reputation and bank account and later urged Wilson to go solo, negotiating his record deal at Jive Records.
Since then, Wilson has worked with notable rappers and musicians including: Master P, Mystikal, Kanye West, Lil’ Kim, the Black Eyed Peas, Notorious B.I.G. and 2Pac.
Wilson and Tat now live in a 20-acre hillside home in Acton draped in Persian décor. “I asked God for an angel, and he sent her. Everyone told me I was washed up and too old. She told me, ‘We’re going back to the top.’ My wife believed in me more than I did,” Wilson said.
