CHARLIE WILSON SAYS 'UNCLE': Legendary R&B funkster drops new album and discusses his prostate cancer.

      The former lead singer of the very funky GAP Band, laced the ‘80s hits “Burn Rubber on Me,” “You Dropped a Bomb on Me,” “Early in the Morning,” and “Outstanding,” and while the GAP Band is legendary, Wilson took his show solo in 2005 and now the troubadour has released his second solo disc, “Uncle Charlie,” leading with the hit single, “There Goes My Baby.”

      The record debuted at #1 on the R&B Albums chart last month, but the success of the album hasn’t necessarily been the singer’s greatest promotion lately. In addition to supporting “Uncle Charlie,” Wilson has also been speaking out on behalf of prostate cancer testing. Certainly, it’s a worthy topic, but it’s more than that for Wilson. Just as he was putting the finishing touches on his new disc, he was diagnosed with the disease.

      “I’m feeling a lot better now, for sure,” he told EUR’s Lee Bailey.

      According to Wilson, he got the news after going in for a routine annual check up.

       “I do it every year, but my wife insisted on me getting a PSA (prostate-specific antigen) test. My test came back 3.9,” he said of the level in his blood. “My doctor was concerned and asked me to do another test 30 days later. I did the test again, and it came back 4.9.”

      Concerned because the one-point jump was particularly aggressive, his doctor told him to see a specialist.

      “I went to a prostate specialist and he wanted to do a biopsy. So we a biopsy and he said, ‘Charlie, I have some good news and some bad news.’”

       When Wilson asked for the bad news first, his doctor told him he had prostate cancer.

      “I immediately tried to pick my face up off the floor, and my heart had dropped as well,” Wilson described. My wife turned to him and asked, ‘What’s the good news?’”

      The good news was that his cancer was in the early stages. Still, Wilson said he was completely devastated.

      “I was looking at all the procedures you can do, but when you say cancer, I was only thinking about chemotherapy. All I could remember was the guy said I had cancer,” he said. “It hadn’t sunk into me was that it was early state; that I just need to go through the procedure and be done with it. But I went back to the specialist and we took care of it.”

      Though Wilson did seek out a second opinion, he kept in mind that there was only a certain window of opportunity to take advantage of procedures his doctor had recommended.

      The singer shared that he felt a little at ease going into surgery when his doctor asked him for a favor.

      “Just before I went under, I saw one of the other doctors in the hallway. He had something in his hand,” Wilson began. “Here came my doctor, ‘Man, why didn’t you tell me you were the Charlie Wilson from the Gap Band? Sign my CD!’ And he said, ‘You know I am going to play ‘You Drop the Bomb on Me’ while I’m doing the procedure.’”

      And with a successful surgery, he’s taken the opportunity to take up the cause and teamed up with the Prostate Cancer Foundation to help fund research.

      “I would recommend a guy going to the doctor. Early detection is the key. Early detection is the message I’m trying to get out to the brothers,” he said. “Real talk, go get yourself checked out. One in three African American men will develop prostate cancer. Every 18 minutes, we’re dying of prostate cancer. I’ve done a lot of performing; this is my time to do a lot of informing.”

      Wilson’s performing days are certainly not coming to an end. The singer is jazzed about his new disc.

      “I think I have something on there for everybody,” he said of the album. “My first single is called ‘There Goes My Baby,’ written by Babyface and singer/songwriter Calvin Richardson.”

       The disc also features a little help form T-Pain and Jamie Foxx on the track “Supa Sexxy” and from his good friend Snoop Dogg on “Let It Out.”

      “My record is hot to death,” says a proud Uncle Charlie.

      To find out more about Charlie Wilson, the new disc, and the Prostate Cancer Foundation, go to his website at www.charliewilsonmusic.com.

WANT TO GET OUT OF DEBT?
    We know exactly how to help
     you achieve your goal. Take
      the first step! Click this link.