Frank Wilson Death
Oct 4, 2012
Frank Wilson's cause of death was a lung infection and complications from prostate cancer, according to doctors at a hospital in Duarte, California where Frank Wilson died.
Frank Edward Wilson was born on December 5, 1940 in Houston. As a teen musician, he moved to Los Angeles for a career in the recording industry, eventually helping Motown President Berry Gordy establish the L.A. office of Motown Records.
Wilson was the songwriter of many classic soul and R&B megahits, including "Love Child," "I'm Living In Shame," "Stone Love," "You've Made Me So Very Happy," "Keep On Truckin" and "Boogie Down."
Wilson created hit sounds for many of music's biggest stars like The Miracles, Martha Reeves & The Vandellas, The Supremes, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Diana Ross, Blood Sweat & Tears, Marvin Gaye, The Isley Brothers, Eddie Kendricks, Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis Jr., Stevie Wonder, Tina Turner and John Legend.
Frank Wilson, a Grammy Award winner, was also the founder and president of two ASCAP and BMI music publishing companies, Traco Music and Specolite Music.Wilson experienced a rare level of notoriety in recording history. His own 1965 single, "Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)" became one of the biggest underground megahits of all time.
A single copy of the song sold for nearly $42,000 in 2009, breaking the record as the most expensive single ever auctioned, according to Guinness World Records.
The following music video for "Love Child," the #1 international megahit by Diana Ross and the Supremes, displays the creative power and commercial success of Frank Wilson as a hit songwriter and superstar producer.
With "Love Child," Wilson secured yet another place in music history as a musical genius whose composition and production ended the long reign of The Beatles' most successful song at the top of the Billboard charts.
In the words of fellow music producer Bobby Paris, "Frank Wilson was the American who ended the British Invasion and put the USA back on top of the music world."
After astounding success in the music business, Frank Wilson shocked the music world by leaving Motown in the late '70s after becoming a born-again Christian and experiencing a spiritual transformation.
"I just had a one-track mind and that was making the next #1 record," said Wilson. "It took God to make me realize there was more to life than music."After studying at Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, Wilson was ordained as a Christian minister.
Pastor Frank Wilson preached, taught, counseled, and established the New Dawn Christian Village in Los Angeles.
Rev. Wilson was the chairman of the United Gospel Industry Council as well as an inspirational speaker, gospel music producer, Christian author, and popular guest on numerous TV programs, including "The Oprah Winfrey Show."
A longtime member of Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles, Frank Wilson was an assistant to the church's senior pastor, the late Dr. E.V. Hill, a legendary figure in Christian broadcasting and evangelism.
The late Frank Wilson is survived by his wife Bunny Wilson, their six children, family members and countless Christians who mourn the death of Frank Wilson.
Frank Wilson 1940-2012
