Raymond Wilson (born 8 September 1968) is a Scottish singer and guitarist, vocalist in the post-grunge band Stiltskin and in Genesis from 1996 to approximately 1999.
Early career and Guaranteed Pure
Before starting a band called Guaranteed Pure in the 1990s, which featured himself along with Paul Holmes (keyboards), Steve Wilson (guitars), John Haimes (bass) and Chris Cavanagh (drums)., he joined Edinburgh Band Strategy in 1987 recording and independently releasing a demo titled Second Move. Guaranteed Pure 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.
Wilson’s breakthrough came in 1994 when he became lead vocalist for the post‑grunge band Stiltskin. Their debut single "Inside" topped charts across Europe, including Germany, driven by its use in a Levi’s commercial.
In the UK and Germany, "Inside" was a defining hit where rock radio and MTV propelled Stiltskin into the spotlight almost overnight.
The album The Mind's Eye received critical acclaim as a brilliant and highly underrated record with Wilson's vocals being described as "terrific" and "flawless".
Wilson joined Genesis as the band's lead singer after Phil Collins officially announced his departure in March 1996. Genesis founder members Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford were handed a CD of the Stiltskin album The Mind's Eye from Virgin Records executives. They were impressed with Wilson's vocal abilities and had their manager, Tony Smith, contact him for an audition.
Other singers who auditioned included Nick Van Eede (Cutting Crew), Francis Dunnery (It Bites), Kevin Gilbert (Toy Matinee, Sheryl Crow), and David Longdon (subsequently of Big Big Train)
After extensive sessions in late 1996, Wilson was announced as the new lead singer of Genesis in June 1997.
Their only album with Wilson, ...Calling All Stations..., was released that September and became a top 10 worldwide hit. The album was re-issued in 2007.
Wilson's vocals brought a darker, smoother, and more atmospheric style than the Collins-era.
In May 2001, during an interview with Dave Negrin for website WorldofGenesis.com, Wilson said: They basically phoned me up and said, "Ray, we're not continuing." I've never really felt that I was out of the band as such; it's just that the band doesn't exist any more (laughs). When I heard that, it was just after the Cut tour, about a year and a half ago. I've read some articles saying that I was fired and stuff, but to be fair to them, they didn't phone me up and say, "Ray, you're fired. We're going to carry on and we're going to get somebody else to sing." Or, "We're going to carry on and get Phil back." There was never any of that. They just said, "We've decided not to continue because the market doesn't want us." I think they didn't want to completely close the door to ever doing anything again.
In a 2007 interview with Anil Prasad for Innerviews, Mike Rutherford said:
"I think had we done three albums with Ray, the first one would have been viewed as a start, but not a great one.
Ray did a fantastic job and he often doesn’t get enough credit. He was great live and it was a very hard gig.
However, I just didn’t want to have to keep making albums and touring solidly for the next three or four years."
In 1999, Wilson released the album Millionairhead with a solo project called Cut_. It was remastered in 2007 with three additional songs added.
Wilson began what has become a very successful solo career in 2003, when he released his first solo album Change.