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RICKY WILSON

ROCK MUSICIAN

The boyish guitarist with the B-52's, Wilson was among the first popular musicians to die of AIDS, and at that time (1985) his death was attributed simply to cancer.

Born in 1953, Ricky Wilson joined with his sister Cindy Wilson (vocals), Keith Strickland (drums), Fred Schneider (vocals), and Kate Pierson (vocals and keyboards) to form the dance band the B-52's in Athens, Georgia, in 1976. The term "B-52" originally referred to a World War II bomber and later to the beehive hair-do favored by the girls in this particular group. Described by The Advocate as a camp-wacko, mock-funk, party band, the group featured humor, heavy drums, and synthesizer bass. After appearing at CBGB's in New York, they were signed by Warner's, which brought out their debut album, The B-52's, in 1979. It contained fun music about such things as horror movies and fast food in tracks like "Dance This Mess Around" and "Rock Lobster." Their next album Wild Planet (1980) placed in the Top 20 LP charts. Party Mix (1981), Mesopotamia (1982), and Whammy! (1983) did less well.

When Ricky Wilson died on October 12, 1985, the B-52's retreated from public life for a while. In QW Magazine (June 21, 1992) members of the group explained that they had not mentioned AIDS when he died because his family knew nothing about his illness. In QW, Strickland and Schneider said they too are gay but do not broadcast their sexual preference. Pierson said, "We're such a fun band, people assume we're polysexual anyway." Their album Good Stuff (1992) is dedicated to "Our brothers and sisters living with AIDS."

Next Card 57: QUESTIONABLE DEATHS: Did They Die of AIDS?