Cindy Wilson

Cynthia Leigh "Cindy" Wilson (born February 28, 1957) is a vocalist, songwriter and a founding member of new wave rock band The B-52s.

The B-52's

The B-52's were formed when Wilson, her older brother and guitarist Ricky, organist and vocalist Kate Pierson, drummer and percussionist Keith Strickland, and vocalist Fred Schneider played an impromptu musical jam session after sharing a tropical Flaming Volcano drink at a local Chinese restaurant. They later played their first concert in 1977 at a Valentine's Day party for their friends.

Wilson and the others broke into the music world with their campy, '60s retro band. Their album The B-52's, yielded the hit singles "Rock Lobster" and "Planet Claire" and launched the band into stardom.

On April 21, 1985, Wilson married Keith Bennett, a successful advertiser who was a longtime friend of the band and Ricky's guitar tech on tour. Ricky died later that year, leaving her devastated.

Wilson took a sabbatical from the band in 1990 to concentrate on raising a family, during which time The B-52's recorded and released the album Good Stuff as a trio of Pierson, Schneider and Strickland. During the live tour to promote the Good Stuff album in 1992 and 1993, Julee Cruise sang as a replacement for Wilson. Wilson rejoined The B-52's in 1994. In 1998 she took part in recordings from which two new songs were selected to be included along with the band's hit singles on the album Time Capsule: Songs for a Future Generation. Wilson then took maternity leave in 1999 (being replaced on tour by Gail Ann Dorsey), later rejoining the band in 2001 for regular touring of their greatest hits.