Ricky Wilson

Birth Name:

Ricky Helton Wilson

Birth Date:

March 19, 1953

Birth Place:

Athens, Georgia

Death Date:

October 12, 1985

Place of Death:

Memorial Sloan–Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York

Age:

Cause of Death:

AIDS related cancer

Cemetery Name:

Oconee Hills Cemetery

Claim to Fame:

Music

With their bouffant coifs, thrift store fashion and dance-infected retrofitted sound, The B-52's rocked the house in the early 80s by capturing the attentions of the "so what?" generation. Founded by Ricky Wilson and his fellow killer B's, they appropriated everything that was tragically unhip and whipped up (via hook-laden pop songs) an ultra-cool, total fab pop confection. When they recorded their first album, they were picked up by Chris Blackwell of Island Records where they secured airplay and 500,000 in sales with the first two singles - Rock Lobster and Private Idaho. Unfortunately the party came to a halt when Ricky Wilson was diagnosed with AIDS during the recording of Whammy and died two years later. After four years on hiatus, the B-52’s staged a stunning comeback with their hit album Cosmic Thing. In a short time the album climbed to Number Five on the charts and selling 200,000 copies a week. The single “Love Shack” shot up to Number Three and sold over a million copies worldwide. With all that success from one album the band graduated from 1,300 seats in San Francisco’s to 14,000 seats arenas by the end of the tour,

Cemetery Information:

Final Resting Place:

Oconee Hills Cemetery

297 Cemetery Street

Athens, Georgia, 30605

USA

North America

Map:

Cemetery map of Oconee Hills Cemetery in Athens, Georgia

Grave Location:

East Hill, Section 5

Grave Location Description

As you enter the cemetery through the main entrance head towards the well house. Turn right, then left and follow that road all the way to the back of the cemetery (East Hill). Look to your left and the only pyramid-shaped headstone marks the final resting place of Ricky Wilson (about 4 rows from the edge of the cemetery property).