Robert Wilson was born in Cambuslang, Scotland, on 2 January 1907. A tenor, he studied singing in Glasgow and sang for several seasons with the Rothesay Entertainers in Scotland. He also sang at most of the Scottish Festivals and at Clan concerts before joining the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company chorus in April 1931. From then until he left the Company in 1937 Robert Wilson played many of the individual singing roles in such productions as Trial by Jury, The Mikado and The Gondoliers.
In 1938 he became a concert singer. For a number of years he headed his own concert party singing Scottish ballads on tour throughout the British Isles. He was also a radio performer and made many recordings, first for Parlophone (1932-33), and later for HMV (beginning in 1943), though none from his Gilbert & Sullivan repertoire. Wilson became one of Scotland's biggest variety stars, and his recordings of such national songs as "A Gordon for Me" and "Down in the Glen" were big sellers. He toured throughout the world until his untimely death in 1964.
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