'The Beach Boys' Co-Founder And Singer Brian Wilson Has Passed Away At 82
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Music visionary and co-founder of The Beach Boys, Brian Wilson, passed away on June 11th at the age of 82, just days shy of his 83rd birthday. No cause of death has been revealed at the time of this writing, but the musician has been battling dementia since last year. The family released this statement on Instagram:
"We are heartbroken to announce that our beloved father Brian Wilson has passed away…We are at a loss for words right now. Please respect our privacy at this time as our family is grieving. We realize that we are sharing our grief with the world. Love & Mercy.”
Brian Wilson was born on June 20th, 1942, in Inglewood, California. He was the first child of Audree Neva and the machinist and later part-time songwriter, Murry Wilson. His younger brothers, Dennis and Carl, were born in 1944 and 1946, respectively. The Wilson brothers were often the subject of psychological and physical abuse from their father.
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Brian had a musical aptitude from a very early age. His father recalled how, as an infant, Brian was able to reproduce the melody of “When the Caissons Go Rolling Along” after hearing only a few verses. His father encouraged the Wilson brothers’ musical endeavors, and he would enroll Brian in six weeks of accordion lessons. Brian sang with the church choir and would perform solos starting at age six. His choir director claimed Brian had perfect pitch. At the age of 12, he taught himself to play the piano by spending hours mastering his favorite songs. He sang with his peers at school functions and with family and friends at home. Brian would also spend hours after school deconstructing the harmonies of The Four Freshmen on his piano.
Brian also played sports in high school. He was the quarterback for Hawthorne High's football team, played American Legion Baseball, and ran cross-country in his senior year. It was also during high school that he would start pursuing his musical career more seriously. He auditioned for the Original Sound Company's inaugural record release but was deemed too young at the time. He received a portable Wollensak recorder, and he used that to begin experimenting with recording songs, involving his friends and family as they sang and harmonized around the piano. He formed a band with his brother Carl and his cousin Mike Love called Carl and the Passions. They performed songs by Dion and the Belmonts at the fall arts program at his school, which impressed his friend and future bandmate, Al Jardine. Brian enrolled as a psychology major at El Camino College in 1960 but dropped out after 18 months due to his teachers’ disdain for pop music.
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In 1961, the three Wilson Brothers, Love, and Jardine debuted as the group The Pendletones with their first single, “Surfin’.” Wilson's father, Murry, became their manager. “Surfin’” was a hit in Los Angeles and reached #75 on the national Billboard sales charts. The group's name, however, was soon changed to The Beach Boys, and they made their first major live debut at the Ritchie Valens memorial dance on New Year's Eve in 1961. Wilson had received a bass guitar just days earlier, prompting Al Jardine to switch to rhythm guitar. They remained with Candix Records until the label faced financial difficulties, forcing them to sell the group's master recordings to another label, causing Murry to end their contract. Wilson collaborated with local musician Gary Usher to produce demos for new tracks, which included “409” and “Surfin’ Safari.” Capitol Records was persuaded to release these demos as a single, and it became a double-sided national hit.
The group signed a seven-year contract with Capitol Records under producer Nick Venet. Wilson negotiated with Capitol Records to record outside the label's basement studios, which he deemed unsuitable for the group. Capitol permitted the group to fund their own external sessions while retaining the rights to their recordings. Wilson also took an active role in production, though he was not credited on the liner notes of their debut album, Surfin’ Safari.
Wilson was inspired by Phil Spector and sought to emulate his career path. He reflected, "I've always felt I was a behind-the-scenes man, rather than an entertainer." “The Revo-Lution” by Rachel and the Revolvers was Wilson's first uncredited production work outside of The Beach Boys, and his first credited work was “The Surfer Moon” by Bob & Sheri. By this point, Wilson ended his partnership with Usher and began a partnership with Bob Norberg.
Wilson produced The Beach Boys’ second album, Surfin' U.S.A., from January to March 1963, and limited his public appearances with the group to television gigs and local shows to prioritize work on the album. However, this would be a predictor of things to come. He was first credited as the group's producer on the album Surfer Girl, released in September of 1963. At this time, he was still resistant to touring, but the departure of David Marks, his vocal stand-in, necessitated his return to the touring group.
In 1964, Beatlemania swept the U.S., creating an informal rivalry between the two groups, particularly between Brian Wilson and Paul McCartney. However, Wilson was starting to become drained by his “Mr. Everything” role, later expressing that he felt mentally drained and unable to rest. Wilson experienced a mental breakdown on December 23rd, 1964, during a flight from LA to Houston. In January of 1965, while recording their next album, Brian decided that he would withdraw from all future tours. He would be replaced by Glen Campbell in the touring act until February 1965, when he was replaced by Columbia Records staff producer Bruce Johnston.
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Wilson's musical ambitions grew significantly with the albums The Beach Boys Today! and Summer Days (And Nights!!), but it was the 1966 album Pet Sounds where he truly made his mark as an artist. He employed various session musicians for the backing tracks, employing his bandmates for vocals. Though the album was not a hit in its day, it became a landmark album for popular music. The lead-off single, “Caroline, No,” was Wilson's first solo credit, and he considers it his best song. The album even inspired Paul McCartney's ambition to create Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. He began working on the follow-up, Smile, but it was never finished, partly due to Wilson's worsening mental health and exhaustion.
Throughout his life, Wilson struggled with mental health, and this was often reflected in his music. He was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder and bipolar disorder, and he suffered from auditory hallucinations in the form of disembodied voices that Wilson referred to as “heroes and villains.” He had various ups and downs, and his mental condition was worsened by his drug use. He had a largely reclusive period after his father died in 1973 until 1975. He turned to an increased consumption of food, alcohol, and hard drugs, causing a strain between himself and his first wife, Marilyn, who threatened him with divorce or institutionalization. In 1975, professional basketball player and Mike Love's brother Stan Love was appointed as Wilson's trainer, bodyguard, and caretaker, and a family intervention was staged to remind him of his contractual obligations. Though Stan helped Wilson improve his health, the musician soon entered psychologist Eugene Landy'a intensive 24-hour therapy program in October of that year. Wilson's mental health stabilized under Landy's care, and he became more socially engaged, which renewed his productivity. 15 Big Ones was the first album to list Wilson as the sole producer since Pet Sounds, and he resumed touring with the group on July 2nd, 1976, marking the first time he appeared on a Beach Boys tour since 1964.
Despite this, however, his mental health continued to fluctuate. Landy was dismissed at the end of 1976 after he increased his monthly fee to $20,000, and his role was immediately assumed by Steve Korthof and Stan Love, and professional model Rocky Pamplin, who was a college friend of Stan. Under their supervision, he assumed a healthy, drug-free lifestyle for several months. However, beginning in 1978, he secretly acquired cocaine and barbiturates, and he began slipping into his old habits as his behavior became more erratic. He and Marilyn separated in July 1978 and filed for divorce in January 1979. By the end of 1981, his weight had exceeded 340 pounds. He signed a trust document that granted his brother, Carl, control of his finances and voting power in the band's corporate structure, and he was involuntarily hospitalized at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica for three days.
Dr. Landy once again intervened in 1982, and he was granted complete control over Wilson's affairs, promising rehabilitation within two years. Wilson was taken to Hawaii and placed on a strict diet and health regimen. He was isolated from his friends and family and was taught social etiquette. Wilson was moved back to Los Angeles in 1983 to a Malibu home under Landy's direction. However, Landy was accused of being too controlling of Wilson, but Wilson fought back against this assumption, stating, “People say that Dr. Landy runs my life, but the truth is, I'm in charge." A conservatorship suit was filed by his family in May 1991, however, causing Landy and Wilson's partnership to be dissolved.
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However, despite these challenges, his mental health improved in his later years, and he credits his relationship with his second wife, Melinda Ledbetter, for allowing him to resume his career as a musician. They married on February 9th, 1995. He had a career resurgence in the 90s and embarked on his first solo tour in 1999. In total, he recorded 12 solo albums from 1988 to 2021, with his last being an instrumental album of many of his most famous songs, titled At My Piano. Melinda, however, passed away on January 30th, 2024. By this point, Wilson had all but retired, and a month later, it was announced he had been diagnosed with dementia.
Several artists paid tribute to Wilson, including longtime friend and “rival” Paul McCartney, in which he stated the following:
“Brian had that mysterious sense of musical genius that made his songs so achingly special. The notes he heard in his head and passed to us were simple and brilliant at the same time. I loved him, and was privileged to be around his bright shining light for a little while. How we will continue without Brian Wilson, 'God Only Knows'.
Thank you, Brian.”
Bandmates Mike Love and Al Jardine also paid tribute to Wilson, with Love saying his "musical gifts were unmatched" and had "changed the course of music forever.” Jardine said in an interview with BBC Radio 4 that, "He was a humble musical giant, and his huge musical intellect was apparent quite early on. At the same time, he didn't need or want attention, was only interested in making the best possible music.”
Brian Wilson is survived by his biological children, Carnie and Wendy, who formed the chart-topping girl group Wilson Phillips, with Chynna Phillips, the daughter of John and Michelle Phillips of The Mamas and the Papas, and his five adoptive children, Daria, Delanie, Dylan, Dash, and Dakota Rose. Wilson said in an essay for his senior problems course, titled “My Philosophy,” that his ambitions were to "make a name for myself [...] in music.” He certainly did that and more, helping to herald popular music as an art form. Rest in peace, Brian Wilson.
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