Biography
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Born
29 September 1957 (age 66)
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Born In
Neasden, Brent, London, England, United Kingdom
Mari Wilson (born Mari MacMillan Ramsey Wilson, 29 September 1957, in London), is an English singer, best known for her sometimes quirky, early 1960s influenced pop music songs, and her (former) trademark beehive hairdo.
She enjoyed six chart hits in the UK in the early 1980s, performed with jazz bands, and sang the theme-song to the TV sitcom Coupling, "Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps".
Her band was colloquially known as The Wilsations and her backing singers were called The Marionettes. Occasional featured artists were Michelle Collins (Cindy from EastEnders) and bassist 'Thumbs' Cunningham.
Recording on the Compact Records label with her backing band The Wilsations, Wilson scored six UK Top 100 singles between 1982-84. Her biggest hit "Just What I Always Wanted" reached number 8 in 1982.
In 1983, she scored a second Top 40 hit with a cover of "Cry Me a River" (UK #27) and released her debut album Showpeople (UK #24). After this, further commercial success eluded her, though, in 1985, she performed the song "Would You Dance with a Stranger" (theme for the film Dance with a Stranger), and turned her career towards live performances. Although for a while she distanced herself from her beehive days, she started touring with her old songs again in 2007.
In 1992, the album The Rhythm Romance, which combined jazz standards with 1960s songs and original material, failed to return her to the charts. She continued performing with jazz bands, and sang the theme song to the TV sitcom Coupling ("Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps"). Her version of "Cry Me a River" was featured in the 1990s crime drama series McCallum.
In 2005, she returned to recording with the album Dolled Up. This was followed by a compilation of her hits, The Platinum Collection to celebrate her 25th anniversary in the music industry. Apart from pursuing her solo career, she toured with Barb Jungr and Claire Martin as the cabaret act, 'Girl Talk' (though Claire Martin has now been replaced by Gwyneth Herbert).
Wilson has also performed in musicals such as Dusty - The Musical, and has been featured on a BBC Television series about celebrities and their health (she has Type 1 Diabetes).
Her band was known as The Imaginations for their first two singles before becoming The Wilsations, and her backing vocalists were called The Marionettes. Occasional featured artists were Michelle Collins (Cindy from EastEnders), Julia Fordham and bassist 'Thumbs' Cunningham.
Wilson's fourth studio album Emotional Glamour was released on her own Beehive label in October 2008 (though she has long ago changed her former trademark hairstyle). She has also written and starred in a one-woman musical, The Love Thing.
As of 2011, Wilson has been working on a new album of covers called Cover Stories, due out in 2012 and funded by public subscription. She also writes a regular blog with updates about it and her life in general.
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