Photographer: Robert Shanklin
One of the brightest voices of the Millennial generation, Bryan Andrew Wilson has grown up before our very eyes. He’s transitioned from a child gospel star to a seasoned adult artist who has been nicknamed “John Legend Jr.” by veteran radio personality Jerry Smith because of his R&B-flavored Spiritual Soul music. Over the last decade, Wilson has reinvented himself and his style with signature radio hits such as “Turning Away,” “Overflow,” and his recent Billboard Top 5 hit, “The Ride.”
Wilson was born in Danville, IL to a musical family that included his grandfather Tommy Davis, a quartet singer who was an early influence on blues great B.B. King. Wilson’s mother, Sheila sang with an R&B group before transitioning to a church singer. Wilson first hit the national scene at the age of ten years old when he led “His Eye Is on the Sparrow” with the Mississippi Children’s Choir for Malaco Records. The performance showcased an amazing vocal technique for a child with ear-piercing high notes.
The mesmerizing track pushed the Mississippi Children’s Choir album, “A New Creation,” to sell over 100,000 units and over ten million streams. The success led to a recording contract with Malaco Records where Wilson recorded two Dove and Stellar Award nominated albums with production contributions from legends such as Kirk Franklin, John P. Kee, and Bishop Walter Hawkins.
After high school, Wilson took a break from recording and earned a B.A. in theology from Claflin University in Columbia, SC and then worked on his Master of Divinity at Princeton University Theological Seminary. In 2008, he released “A Second Coming,” the first album where he wrote or co-wrote all the songs. It was also the first on his own recording label, Bryan’s Songs Records in a venture with CE Music. He followed up with “The One Percent” album in 2014. That fourteen-track set featured the Billboard charting radio singles “Faithful God,” “I Put You First,” "With Every Beat of My Heart,” and the Top 20 smash, "Turning Away,” which garnered over a million digital streams.
In the years since, Wilson has released other Billboard charts hits such as “Whoa!,” "This Time,” and “Overflow.” He broke new musical ground for himself when his “Only You” collaboration with Jazz multi-instrumentalist Jason Webb’s Next Paradigm Collective reached No. 16 on teh Mediabase Smooth AC chart. In 2021, Wilson reached new heights with the success of his single “The Ride.” The track was produced by Awaz Beatz & The Exclusives who are known for their work with the links of Chris Brown and DJ Khaled. The song rose to No. 5 on Billboard’s Gospel Airplay chart, Wilson’s highest charting single yet. He then teamed with alternative R&B artist Caleb Taylor for an acoustic rendition of “The Ride” that’s gotten much acclaim in Adult R&B music circles. As an independent artist, Wilson has racked up over 20 million digital streams
Wilson and his wife, Tiffany Morriar Wilson, co-pastor Freedom of Atlanta church in the Lithonia, Georgia area.