ArtistInfo

Billy Motley

*1957
Dance
A.k.a. Billy James Wilson

Born: March 14, 1957 at St. Joseph Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Born to BJ Motley and Anita Wilson, Billy spent his first 6 years in Detroit, Michigan. Though his parents weren't married Wilson was signed in the Detroit school system as Billy Motley; though legally his name was Billy Wilson. After the age of 7 his parents seperated and along with his mother and 3 siblings moved 30 miles west of Detroit to the Ypsilanti township of Willow Run. By the age of 8, Wilson started using his legal name Wilson. Wilson started the world of entertainment as the lead singer of a local group with no name! Eventually he started a new group with his then best friend Tony Walker. During that time he started playing bass guitar. The two wound up creating the group Trueblood. Wilson quit Trueblood to join The Dimentions Of Soul. The same group eventually changed their name to Imagination. This group toured the country on an Arms Forces Tour for 6 months. Wilson eventually joined a local group titled Bigfoot. For 3 years Wilson played along with Stephen Bray (Producer of Madonna's first 5 albums). In 1979 Wilson met rapper Duane Hughes a.k.a... Spyder D. through a mutual musician friend. What happened then started what would become a historic venture with the co-creation of the song titled 'Big Apple Rappin.' Known as a pioneer in rap music, Hughes went on to produce many other recordings that fostered numerous hits. Wilson went on to become the president of the Motown Alumni Association. Wilson and Hughes didn't meet up again until nearly 30 years later.

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