Bassist Robert Wilson, who founded the legendary American funk act the Gap Band with his brothers Charlie, and Ronnie, died Sunday in his Palmdale home. The cause of death is still unknown pending a full autopsy. Wilson was 53.
The Wilson brothers were raised in Tulsa, Okla. and began playing together in 1967, originally under the name of the Greenwood, Archer and Pine Street Band. In the early 1970s, they shortened their name to the Gap Band and began performing with Leon Russell, who produced their debut album “Magician’s Holiday.”