Robin Wilson, lead vocalist and guitarist for the alternative rock band the Gin Blossoms. The group has earned multiple platinum albums and hit singles and Robin has been inducted into both the Arizona Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame and the Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame.

Robin spent a lot of his youth on the Mesa Community College Southern and Dobson campus where his father, Lee Wilson, taught accounting from the '70s through the early '90s. Robin says he remembers selling popcorn at the football games and his first job was in the campus cafeteria. A full-time student from 1983-88, he was looking for academic direction and one summer, on a hike, he found his direction. Excited to return to MCC, he took every science class he could for three years, planning to get a degree in planetary science.

Then rock and roll called. The Gin Blossoms grew, propelling Robin and the band to fame in the '90s with hits such as "Follow You Down," "Hey Jealousy," and "Allison Road." The group earned a 1997 Grammy nomination for Best Performance by a Group.

Robin jokes that he is the "Blutarsky" of community college - a reference to John Belushi's character in Animal House - because he spent five years at MCC. He says it was time well spent because it was where his solid knowledge of science grew. He named his Tempe recording company Uranus Recording Studio after his interest in planetary science.

As bands do, the Gin Blossoms broke up and Robin became lead vocalist for the Gas Giants and then reunited with the Gin Blossoms in 2006. Touring, they also released the album Major Lodge Victory featuring the singles "Learning the Hard Way" and "Long Time Gone."

In the '90s, he moved to Long Island to help raise his son, Grey Wilson, an aspiring musician and songwriter.