Avery Wilson (born July 18, 1995) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer and actor. Wilson first gained notice as a contestant on season 3 of '' The Voice''. In 2015, he released "If I Have To", the first single from his debut album, which reached the top twenty on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot R&B Songs Hot R&B Songs is a chart released weekly by '' Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular R&B songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio stations, digital download sales and streaming data. It was establi ...

chart. He later starred in the 2024 revival of ''

The Wiz ''The Wiz: The Super Soul Musical "Wonderful Wizard of Oz"'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Charlie Smalls (and others) and book by William F. Brown. It is a retelling of L. Frank Baum's children's novel '' The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' ...

'' on Broadway as the Scarecrow, which earned him a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

nomination for

Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album The Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album has been awarded since 1959. The award is generally given to the album's producers, principal vocalist(s), and the composer and lyricist if they have written a new score which comprises 51% or more ...

for its accompanying soundtrack.

Early life and education

Wilson never saw himself as a singer until his father overheard him singing and recognized the talent. His father began holding open mic nights at one of the 14 area

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that he oversaw as the director of operations. The open mic nights were to help the local community have a safe place to have fun and also showcase his son's talent. Wilson was 9 years old at the time and still returns to the location to help with the event. Wilson was raised in

Hamden, Connecticut Hamden is a New England town, town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States. The town's nickname is "The Land of the Sleeping Giant (Connecticut), Sleeping Giant". The town is part of the South Central Connecticut Planning Region, Connecti ...

, where he attended Hamden Middle School. He attended Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School located in

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...

Career

One of Wilson's first singles, "Ringtone", was a demo that was sent to radio station

WYBC-FM WYBC-FM (94.3 MHz) is an urban adult contemporary radio station, licensed to New Haven, Connecticut. The station's studios are located on the campus of Yale University. The station is owned by Yale Broadcasting Company and operated through a loc ...

in New Haven, CT. The demo was sent in by his father and it received airplay, becoming a hit in the regional market of Connecticut, New York, and Massachusetts. Wilson was first discovered by

Sean Garrett Garrett Robin Hamler (born March 30, 1979), known professionally as Sean Garrett, is an American record producer and songwriter. He is known his songwriting work on a series of commercially successful R&B and hip-hop songs, beginning with Ush ...

who began working with him. He entered the Next Teen Superstar competition in New York in 2011 and was the co-winner of the competition. In 2012 he self-released ''On Top of the World''. Wilson appeared on season 3 of '' The Voice'' when he was 16 years old. He performed on team Cee Lo Green and made it to the knockouts. Wilson was a favorite to win the competition but was eliminated on October 29, 2012, after his performance of " Yeah 3x". His elimination was called a major upset by numerous publications, and he later signed with

Clive Davis Clive Jay Davis (born April 4, 1932) is an American record producer, A&R executive, record executive, and lawyer. He has won five Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as a non-performer, in 2000. From 1967 to 1 ...

and

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

. He returned to ''The Voice'' Season 8 in 2015 to sing ''If I Have To'', the first single from his debut album. Wilson later announced that he would perform at the

BET Awards The BET Awards are an American award show that was established in 2001 by the BET, Black Entertainment Television network to celebrate Black person, Black entertainers and other minorities in music, film, sports and philanthropy. The awards, which ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

on June 28, 2015. On October 29, 2018, Avery released his new 5-song project called ''FYI'' onto mainstream. The song "Dollar Bill" was released as his first single. The song expressed the meaning of "not putting up with bullshit." He released his second single, "Wass the Move", which had a hip-hop feel to it. Avery's other three tracks included "Do For You", "Use 2", and "Touch Down". In 2019, Avery released a 4-song project called ''8:34''. In 2024, Avery became a cast member of the Broadway show ''

'' as the Scarecrow.

Personal life

Wilson came out as bisexual in a tweet on his 25th birthday on July 18, 2020.

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Avery 1995 births African-American LGBTQ people African-American male singers African-American songwriters American bisexual men American bisexual musicians American LGBTQ singers American LGBTQ songwriters American male pop singers American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters Bisexual male musicians Bisexual singers Bisexual songwriters Dancers from Connecticut LGBTQ people from Connecticut Living people People from Hamden, Connecticut RCA Records artists Singer-songwriters from Connecticut The Voice (franchise) contestants