Bo Wilson

In the 1960s and ’70s, Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community member Turhan Reed Gates, a.k.a. Bo Wilson, made a name for himself in the Los Angeles music scene. He played on stage with famous blues, rock and roll, and R&B musicians such as the Shirelles, the Drifters, the Coasters, Joe Houston, B.B. King, the Kinks, Sawyer Brown and Uriah Heep, as well has his own band. Wilson played rock and roll and country music throughout his life.

Originally from Lehi, he resided Los Angeles. He started playing when he was a teenager. He learned to play 13 different instruments, including guitar, drums and harmonica. His love for music started when he attended Sherman Indian High School in Riverside, California, where he was in the school band.

Wilson was inducted into the Arizona Blues Hall of Fame in 2000, the first Native American to be inducted. Sadly, Wilson suffered a heart attack around the same time and passed away. Wilson’s family gave his Hall of Fame plaque to the Hu-Huhugam Ki Museum for safekeeping.