Music
Kim Wilson
born 1951 · blues singer, harmonica player
Detroit-born blues harmonica player and frontman of the Fabulous Thunderbirds, known for the 1986 hit “Tuff Enuff”.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan
age 75- Also known as
- Goleta Slim
- Field
- Music
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Kim Wilson was born in Detroit but grew up in Goleta, California, where he sometimes performed as “Goleta Slim”, so his tie to the city is his birth. Drawn to the blues in the late 1960s, he learned directly from masters such as Muddy Waters, Jimmy Rogers, Albert Collins and George “Harmonica” Smith, and he modeled his harmonica playing on Little Walter, James Cotton and Big Walter Horton. In Austin, Texas, he co-founded the Fabulous Thunderbirds with guitarist Jimmie Vaughan in the mid-1970s, and the band became a pillar of the Texas blues revival. Their 1986 single “Tuff Enuff” reached the Billboard top 10, followed by “Wrap It Up”. Wilson has also recorded widely as a solo artist and session harmonica player.
Highlights
- Frontman of the Fabulous Thunderbirds
- “Tuff Enuff” (1986), a US top 10 hit
- Learned from Muddy Waters and other blues masters
- Acclaimed solo blues albums and session work