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Members
Charlie Wilson (Born Charles Kent Wilson, January 29, 1953 in Tulsa, OK)
Ronnie Wilson
Robert Wilson

Albums
Gap Band - The Best Of Gap Band
Gap Band - Funkin' 'Till Y2K Comz
Charlie Wilson - Bridging The Gap

Also Featured On...
Avant - Ecstasy (Charlie Wilson)
Boomerang (Charlie Wilson)
DJ Pooh - Bad Newz Travels Fast (Charlie Wilson)
DJ Whoo Kid - Smokin' Day 2: The Official G Unit/Tha Pound Blunt Wrap Mixtape (Charlie Wilson)
George Clinton And The P-Funk All-Stars - T.A.P.O.A.F.O.M. (Charlie Wilson)
The Game & Snoop Dogg - Westside Connection (Charlie Wilson)
Gridlock'd (Charlie Wilson)
Rick James - Urban Rapsody (Charlie Wilson)
L.B.C. Crew - Long Beach 2 Compton Mixtape (Charlie Wilson)
Millennium Funk Party
MTV Party To Go '98 (Charlie Wilson)
Mystikal - Ghetto Fabulous (Charlie Wilson)
The Notorious B.I.G. - Duets: The Final Chapter (Charlie Wilson)
Pure Funk
Quincy Jones - Q's Jook Joint (Charlie Wilson)
Snoop Doggy Dogg - Tha Doggfather (Charlie Wilson)
Snoop Dogg - Da Game Is To Be Sold, Not To Be Told (Charlie Wilson)
Snoop Doggy Dogg - Greatest Hits (Charlie Wilson)
Snoop Dogg - Paid Tha Cost To Be Da Bo$$ (Charlie wilson)
Snoop Dogg - R&G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece (Charlie Wilson)
Snoop Dogg - Ego Trippin' (Charlie Wilson)
Keith Sweat - Sweat Hotel Live (Charlie Wilson)
Roger Troutman II - The Second Coming (Charlie Wilson)
2Pac - The A Cappella Archive (Charlie Wilson)
U.G.K. - Underground Kingz (Charlie Wilson)
Welcome 2 Tha Chuuch Mixtape Volume 2 (Charlie Wilson)
Zapp & Roger - All The Greatest Hits (Charlie Wilson)
Zapp & Roger - We Can Make You Dance: The Zapp & Roger Anthology (Charlie Wilson)

Bio From All Music Guide
The first major hit for the GAP Band was a snazzy juke toon called "Shake." Just prior to the completion of their first album, Charlie Wilson cited the song for his brothers thinking they might ridicule the lyric. That was quite the contrary. His brothers loved it and the song was a smash number four single on Billboard R&B charts, elevating the group to national status.

Born and raised in Tulsa, OK, the Wilson brothers began singing and playing in their father's penacostal church, and it was also mandatory they practice their music lessons at home as well. They learned various instruments which primarily included the piano. As much as they despised the lessons at the time, it proved to be a value tool for all three.

With Ronnie being the oldest, he established his own band by the age of 14. Charlie, a few years younger than Ronnie, joined a rival band a couple of years later. One night the two bands were performing across the street from one another. Ronnie stopped by to check out Charlie groovin' on the organ. While there, Ronnie asked Charlie to join his band and he would pay him $50.00 over what he is was making. Charlie's bandmates offered him $100.00. However, Charlie joined his brother's band as Ronnie gave him no choice.

At a gig not too long after the two had joind forces, the group's bass player quit and Ronnie and Charlie summoned their younger Robert, barely 14, to the group to play bass. For a short while, the band performed without a name. Finally they began going by the name the Greenwood, Archer and Pine Streets Band. As advertising such a name on posters became too lengthy, the group shortened the name to the G. - A. - P. Street Band. Due to a typographical error, the group was advertised as G A P Band and it stuck. The Wilson brothers became known as the GAP Band.

They performed at various venues around the Tulsa area, which included country western joints, tennis clubs, rock clubs and whoever else called on their services. However, by the middle of the 1970's, Charlie Wilson became interested in Los Angeles and left Tulsa to explore his possibilities. A short time later, Charlie convinced his brothers to join him. The group floundered about L.A. hittin' and missin' on record deals, gigs and the like. Still maintaining their interest, the group met entertainment businessman Lonnie Simmons through their friend, singer/musician D.J. Rogers. Simmons owned a nightclub and a recording studio at the time and signed the group to his company. (He would later start-up a record label.)

The Top Five single "Shake" followed in 1979, along with "Steppin' Out (#10) and "I Don't Believe You Want to Get Up and Dance (Oops, Up Side Your Head)" (#4) in 1980. The latter was inspired at a concert in Pittsburgh where some kids were chanting the groove and the Gap Band picked up on it. In December of 1980, the trio dropped their first number one single with "Burn Rubber (Why You Wanna Hurt Me)" and followed it with the Top Five ballad "Yearning for Your Love" (1981).

The group went on to score three more number one songs ("Early in the Morning" and "Outstanding" in ‘82 and "All of My Love" in ‘89), three more number two songs ("You Dropped a Bomb on Me" in ‘82, "Beep a Freak" in ‘84 and "Going in Cirlces" in 86) and a horde of Top Ten hits. They also did the soundtracks for Leon Isaac Kenndy's Peniteniary III and Keenan Ivory Waynans' I'm Gonna Get You Sucker." The group was given only 24 hours notice to complete the title song.

In 1984 Ronnie Wilson became a born-again Christian and started pastoring. He joined Melba Moore and David Peaston in the touring play Mama, I'm Sorry. Charlie Wilson has been one of most sought after vocalist in the music industry. He has worked with Quincy Jones, Ray Charles, the Eurythmics, Snoop Dogg and scores of others. The Gap Band has recorded for various labels, including Mercury and Capitol Records. The group has remained together enduring the good with the bad. They are still actively recording and touring the U.S. and abroad. — Craig Lytle

Charlie Wilson's Bio From All Music Guide
As lead singer for the Gap Band, Charlie Wilson sang on four number one R&B hits: "Burn Rubber (Why You Wanna Hurt Me)," "Early in the Morning," "Outstanding," "Addicted to Your Love," as well as " You Dropped a Bomb on Me," "Yearning for Your Love," "Party Train," and "Big Fun." The band had two gold albums, The Gap Band II and Gap Band V-Jammin', and three platinum albums, The Gap Band III, The Gap Band IV, and Gap Gold/The Best of the Gap Band. They also supplied hit singles for the movie soundtracks to Penitentiary III ("Sweeter Than Candy") and the title track Top 20 R&B hit single of Keenon Ivory Wayans' I'm Gonna Git You Sucka.

After a ten-year hiatus, Wilson returned with the album Bridging The Gap issued by Major Hits/Interscope/Universal Music. It sports appearances by Snoop Doog and Nate Dogg (the smooth "Big Pimpin'") and Case (on the duet ballad "Another Man") .It's appropriate that some of hip-hop's elite show up on Wilson's first album of the 21st century. The Gap Band's music has been sampled by numerous hip-hop acts (particularly "Outstanding"). Also, the band along with their labelmates and the creative staff at Total Experience Records helped lay the foundation for new jack and hip-hop.

In the early '70s, Wilson and his brothers, Ronnie (trumpet/keyboards) and Robert (bass), formed the Gap Band in Tulsa, OK, after honing their talents in church. The band's name is an acronym for three Tulsa streets, Greenwood, Archer, and Pine. Leon Russell hired them as his opening act in 1973. The group recorded an album for Russell's Shelter label. While on tour, they met Dallas, TX, keyboardist Calvin Yarbrough after hearing him perform with the band Grand Theft. They offered Yarbrough a background vocal/keyboard spot on the tour, and he accepted. When the tour was over, Yarbrough returned to Dallas. Sometime later, the band was discovered by Total Experience Records owner Lonnie Simmons while being the backing band for D.J. Rogers ("Say You Love Me," "Love Brought Me Back"). After the group's contract with Shelter lapsed, they signed with Simmons' label in 1978. Foreseeing possible problems in the future with the 14-member act, he suggested that the Gap Band pare down to three members, Wilson and his two brothers. He also outfitted the band with stylish cowboy wear. The hits started rolling: "Shake," "Steppin' (Out)," and "I Don't Believe You Want to Get up and Dance (Oops, up Side Your Head)" were Top Ten R&B hits.

When the Gap Band performed in Dallas, Yarbrough visited with them in their hotel room, bringing along a demo tape that he'd recorded with singer Alisa Peoples. Impressed, Charlie Wilson enthusiastically woke up Lonnie Simmons who told the duo to keep in touch. Later, the singing duo Yarbrough and Peoples showed up in the lobby of Los Angeles-based Total Experience Records. Surprised, Simmons suggested that the duo make a record demo and teamed them with staff producer Jonah Ellis. After being signed to the label, Yarbrough and Peoples had several hits for the label including the million-selling number one R&B single "Don't Stop the Music" from the gold LP The Two of Us.

Switching to Capitol, the band had their final number one R&B hit with "All of My Love" and their last Top Ten R&B single with "Addicted to Your Love" from their Round Trip album. Ronnie Wilson left to pursue a long-standing dream to do gospel music which spelled the end of the Gap Band.

After doing such dancefloor fillers as "Disrespect" and "Beep a Freak," it was a bold move to have the pop-ish ballad "Without You" as the lead single for Bridging The Gap. It proved to be the right move with it being an R&B hit in fall 2000. — Ed Hogan

Official Site: Charlie Wilson (Jive), Charlie Wilson's MySpace & Gap Band's MySpace