Charlie Wilson visited NPR’s headquarters for a special Tiny Desk Concert in honor of Black Music Month.
Joined by a seven-piece band and background singers, the legendary singer opened his 30-minute set with “Charlie, Last Name Wilson.” It’s the title track from his 2005 album, which peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard 200 chart.
He then took the audience back to the ’80s — 1985 to be exact — for Zapp’s “Computer Love” on which he is featured with Shirley Murdock.
After performing his 2008 hit “There Goes My Baby,” Wilson took it to church with “I’m Blessed,” the lead single from his 2017 album, In It to Win It.
“I’ve been through so much in my life, I wish I just had enough time to tell you everything but I don’t. God has been good to me; He’s been better to me than my own self. And for that, I’m blessed,” Wilson heartfully stated before performing the number.
Wilson couldn’t leave the set without revisiting tunes from The Gap Band. The frontman of the iconic group performed signature hits such as “Yearning For Your Love” and “Outstanding.”
Before closing with the latter tune, Wilson spoke about how he had contemplated retiring from music until he was asked to hop on the remix of Fetty Wap’s “Sweet Yamz,” along with Ronald Isley. Fetty Wap’s version is a reinterpretation of Masego and Devin Morrison’s “Yamz,” which dropped in November 2021.
Wilson last released music in 2022. His single “No Stoppin’ Us” featuring Babyface, K-Ci Hailey and Johnny Gill reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Adult R&B Airplay chart in August 2022. It marked Wilson’s ninth leader on the Adult R&B Airplay chart, making him the male R&B singer with the most No. 1s on that chart. (Alicia Keys has the most out of all acts with 14. Read more about it here.)
Watch Charlie Wilson’s Tiny Desk Concert below.