- Born
- Died
- Birth nameRicky Helton Wilson
- Height1.78 m
- Ricky Wilson was an American musician best known as the original guitarist and founding member of rock band The B-52's. Born in Athens, Georgia, Wilson was the brother of fellow member Cindy Wilson. At an early age, Wilson developed an interest in music, and learned how to play folk guitar from the PBS series Learning Folk Guitar. Wilson's unusual guitar tunings were a large contribution to the band's quirky sound. In addition to his work with The B-52's, Wilson played the guitar on the song "Breakin' in My Heart" on Tom Verlaine's self-titled debut album in 1979. This was his only non-B-52's appearance on record. He also appeared in various films, namely One-Trick Pony (1980).- IMDb mini biography by: Bazza the Beast
- His unconventional guitar tunings and stringings. Often played guitar with the middle two strings removed.
- Died at Memorial Sloane Kettering Hospital in New York City
- Guitarist for The B-52's from 1977 to 1985.
- Older brother of Cindy Wilson.
- The epitaph on his tombstone reads: "The breeze of Grace is always blowing; set your sail to catch that breeze".
- I don't write down lyrics or anything else, and I've no idea how guitar-tuning is supposed to go. I just work with the strings until something comes out that sounds good to me; from there, everything else falls into place.
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