Precious Wilson was born in Spanish Town, Jamaica. The soul singer is mostly famous for her work with the successful band “Eruption”. With the group, she recorded such hits as “Eruption” and “Leave a Light”. Her voice was the calling card of the band, which fell apart shortly after the singer left.
When Precious was seven years old, her family moved to the UK. The artist enjoyed music since childhood and tried hard to demonstrate her talent.
In 1975, Wilson joined “Eruption”, which was formed back in 1969. At first, Precious was the back vocalist. With her assistance, the band won the RCA Soul Search contest.
A year later, the leading singer left the band. Musicians and the label turned their attention to Wilson, whose astounding vocal talent was hard to overlook.
The label arranged several concerts for the band in Germany. During one of these concerts, they caught the attention of Frank Farian, a famous producer mostly known for his work with Boney M. Farian offered Eruption a contract with Hansa Records. Since then, the band’s popularity started to rise.
In 1977, Eruption recorded a hit single “I Can’t Stand the Rain”. The song became a huge hit mostly thanks to the strong voice of Precious Wilson. Another commercially successful song recorded by Wilson and Eruption was “One Way Ticket”. It reached high spots on the charts all over the world. “One Way Ticket” was the last big hit recorded by Eruption because, in 1979, Precious Wilson left the band to pursue a solo career.
In the summer of 1979, Frank Farian started working with Precious on a solo project. While Wilson was recording her debut single “Hold on, I’m Coming”, Farian asked her to help with Boney M’s fourth LP, Oceans of Fantasy. The album became extremely successful, topping the UK Albums Chart and coming in first in Norway. It also went platinum in the UK, Spain, and Germany.
Meanwhile, Precious’ debut single wasn’t as popular. However, it managed to earn positive reviews from the critics and come in 45th on a Dutch chart. Her next single “Cry to Me”, which came out in 1980 became more successful, reached the third spot of the Swiss chart.
In August 1980, Wilson finished recording her debut solo album, We are On the Race Track. It was produced by Frank Farian. The LP became commercially successful. The single with the same name made it into the German chart and settled on the 11th spot. Precious was becoming more and more successful, recording one hit after another.
In 1982, the singer presented her next LP, All Coloured in Love. It achieved success all over Europe. In France and the UK, the album was released as Red Light. Several singles, such as “Raising My Family” became hits.
In 1984, the next album, Funky Fingers, came out. It was welcomed by the fans, who have gotten used to the singer releasing several hits every year.
In 1985, while working with Jive Records, Wilson released a new single “I’ll be Your Friend”, which stayed in European charts for over four months. The next hit “The Jewel of the Nile” was written as a soundtrack to the adventure comedy The Jewel of the Nile, which came out the same year.
In 1986, Precious presented her next LP, Precious Wilson. The same year, she helped record a charity album to support a campaign against drugs, The Anti-Heroin Project - Live-In World. All proceeds were donated to a rehabilitation center.
The next year, she worked with producers Stock/Aitken and Waterman to record a disco hit of the season “Only The Strong Survive”. Even though the song didn’t make it into the charts, it was very popular among the singer’s fans from all over the world.
In 1990, Wilson debuted as an actor in the musical, Blues in the Night. She also appeared on several TV shows. At the same time, Precious helped Techno Eccentrics record a successful album, Messiah. Her version of Donna Summer’s “I Feel Love” made it into the top-20 of the UK Singles Chart.
In 1992, Precious presented a hit single “Spacer” recorded with Funky French Guy.
Since then Wilson has been collaborating with numerous artists, participating in TV projects, and helping write books about the Disco era.
Today, Precious Wilson continues giving live performances all over Europe. She has the legal rights to the band name “Eruption”, which she often uses during her concerts.
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