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Anthony Howard Wilson (20 February 1950 – 10 August 2007) was a British record label owner, radio and television presenter, nightclub manager and impresario, and a journalist for ITV Granada, the BBC and Channel 4.
As a co-founder of the independent label Factory Records and founder-manager of the Haçienda nightclub, Wilson was behind some of Manchester's most successful bands, including Joy Division, New Order, and Happy Mondays. Wilson was known as "Mr Manchester", dubbed as such for his work in promoting the culture of Manchester throughout his career.
Wilson was portrayed by Steve Coogan in Michael Winterbottom's film 24 Hour Party People (2002), and by Craig Parkinson in Anton Corbijn's film Control (2007).
Wilson reported for ITV's current affairs series World in Action in the early 1980s and hosted editions of After Dark, the UK's first open-ended chat show, first on Channel 4 and later BBC Four. Journalist Fergal Kinney wrote in 2021: "His appearances on Channel 4's freewheeling late-night debate show After Dark...are exhilarating, pitched somewhere between a malevolent David Dimbleby and a slightly effete Jonathan Meades." Fergal Kinney interview with Paul Morley, The Quietus, 9 October 2021, accessed 12 October 2021 Paul Morley's book From Manchester with Love: The Life and Opinions of Tony Wilson quotes Wilson as nearly falling asleep on the programme but waking up to hear one of the guests attacking him for naming his band Joy Division.
In 1988, Wilson hosted The Other Side of Midnight, another Granada weekly regional culture slot, covering music, literature and the arts in general. Wilson co-presented the BBC's coverage of The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert at Wembley Stadium with Lisa I'Anson in 1992. He hosted the short-lived TV quiz shows Topranko! and Channel 4's Remote Control in the 1990s, as well as the Manchester United themed quiz, Masterfan, for MUTV.
In 2006 he became the regional political presenter for the BBC's The Politics Show. He presented a weekly radio show on Xfm Manchester – Sunday Roast – and a show on BBC Radio Manchester. In October he joined Blur bassist Alex James, Blue Peter presenter Konnie Huq and previously unknown presenter Emily Rose to host the 21st century version of the 1980s music programme, The Tube, for Channel 4 Radio which ran until 2 March 2007. His final music TV show was filmed in December 2006 for Manchester's Channel M. Only one episode, entitled "The New Friday", was recorded before Wilson became ill.
Wilson was the manager of many bands, including A Certain Ratio and the Durutti Column, and was part owner and manager of Factory Records, home of Happy Mondays, Joy Division and New Order – the band managed by friend and business partner Rob Gretton. He also founded and managed the Haçienda nightclub and Dry Bar. The scene was termed "Madchester" in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He made little money from Factory Records or the Haçienda, despite the enormous popularity and cultural significance of both endeavours. About.com Music Careers: Tony Wilson Retrieved on 9 August 2008
In 2000, Wilson and his business partners launched an early digital music store, Music33.
A semi-fictionalised version of his life and of the surrounding era was made into the film 24 Hour Party People (2002), which stars Steve Coogan as Wilson. After the film was produced, Wilson wrote a novelisation based on the screenplay. He played a minor role (as himself) in the film A Cock and Bull Story (2005), in which he interviews Coogan. Wilson also co-produced the Ian Curtis biopic, Control (2007), being portrayed on this occasion by Craig Parkinson.
Wilson was a partner in the annual In the City and Interactive City music festivals and industry conferences, and also F4 Records, the fourth version of Factory Records.
Wilson said:
Probate documents reveal his estate was valued at £484,747 after tax. That figure includes the value of his city centre flat on Little Peter Street. The will, signed by Wilson on 4 July 2007, gave Yvette Livesey, 39, his girlfriend of 17 years, the proceeds from their home. He also left her his share of six businesses. His son Oliver and daughter Isabel shared the rest of his estate.
Wilson's funeral was at St Mary's RC Church, Mulberry Street, Manchester (The Hidden Gem) on 20 August 2007. Among the music, he chose Happy Mondays' "Bob's Yer Uncle". Observer review of Shaun Ryler's book "Wrote For Luck", 3 March 2019 As with everything else in the Factory empire, Wilson's coffin was given a Factory catalogue number: FAC 501. He is buried at Southern Cemetery in Chorlton-cum-Hardy, Manchester. His black granite headstone, erected in October 2010, was designed by Peter Saville and Ben Kelly, and features a quotation, chosen by Wilson's family, from Isabella Banks's 1876 novel The Manchester Man, set in Rotis font. The quotation reads: "Mutability is the epitaph of worlds/ Change alone is changeless/ People drop out of the history of a life as of a land though their work or their influence remains."
The main square of the HOME/First Street development in Manchester, which opened in 2015, is named Tony Wilson Place.
In memory of Wilson, a poem was written by Mike Garry and broadcast on the BBC. Cultureword, accessed 13 March 2023
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