RIP Brian Wilson: Tributes pour in for The Beach Boys' surf-rock poet
The music world mourns pop visionary Brian Wilson, the creative force behind 'The Beach Boys', who passed away on Wednesday.
Musician Brian Wilson (left) performs in 2014. The Beach Boys (from left) Al Jardine, Mike Love, Dennis Wilson, Brian Wilson and Carl Wilson of The Beach Boys in Los Angeles in 1964. Inset: John Cusack as Wilson in 'Love & Mercy'. Pictures: Frazer Harrison. Getty Images via AFP, X and River road entertainment/ Battl/ Collection ChristopheL via AFP
Brian Wilson, co-founder and creative genius behind The Beach Boys, has died at the age of 82 on Wednesday, 11 June.
His passing comes mere days after the death of funk-rock star Sly Stone, who invented his own kind of funky hybrid of rock 'n' roll and R&B with his '60s group Sly and the Family Stone.
Over the decades, Wilson was lauded for crafting The Beach Boys' signature harmonies and groundbreaking albums like Pet Sounds.
RIP Brian Wilson: 'Sharing our grief with the world'
The family of the pop music icon not provide a cause of death in their statement on Instagram.
'We are at a loss for words right now,' said his family. 'We realise that we are sharing our grief with the world.'
Wilson was placed under a legal conservatorship last year due to a 'major neurocognitive disorder'.
Brian Wilson: The man who shaped the sound of California
Born in 1942, Brian Wilson formed The Beach Boys in 1961 with his brothers Dennis and Carl, cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine.
This image of the band carrying a surfboard featured on their album 'Surfer Girl'. Picture: Screengrab/ X
Wilson's ability to blend intricate harmonies with emotional storytelling set The Beach Boys apart in the 1960s.
He masterminded signature hits like Surfin' USA, God Only Knows, and Good Vibrations, and his innovative studio production on the landmark album Pet Sounds helped redefine pop music.
Crafting a unique sound
His work transcended pop, influencing genres from rock to hip-hop. As Elton John noted, Wilson 'shaped music forever' with his fearless creativity.
Wilson's genius lay in his meticulous production.
He layered vocals and instruments in ways previously unheard, creating a 'California sound' that captured the era's spirit. Tracks like Good Vibrations demonstrated his experimental edge, blending psychedelia with pop.
LISTEN: The Beach Boys' biggest hits
Personal struggles
Despite withdrawing from touring in 1964 due to mental health struggles, Wilson continued to compose and influence music for decades.
His life story, marked by both triumph and adversity – including battles with schizoaffective disorder and substance use – has inspired books, documentaries, and biopics.
Tributes from bandmates, family and music icons for Brian Wilson
His bandmates, alongside global music icons, have shared heartfelt tributes, celebrating a man who 'changed the goalposts' for songwriting.
Chorus of voices mourn passing of Brian Wilson
Numerous music legends also paid tribute:
Nancy Sinatra: 'His cherished music will live forever,' she wrote on Instagram, adding that 'one of the biggest thrills' of her life was singing California Girls with him.
John Cusack, who portrayed Wilson in Love & Mercy, wrote on X:
'The maestro has passed – an open heart with two legs… Love and Mercy for you and yours tonight.'
The maestro has passed – the man was a open heart with two legs – with an ear that heard the angels. Quite literally. Love and Mercy for you and yours tonight .
RIP Brian. https://t.co/5JJXOWp7Lg…
Brian wrote down the lyrics of love and mercy for me – pic.twitter.com/v1TAFOoBvK — John Cusack (@johncusack) June 11, 2025
READ ALSO: Kris Kristofferson: A rebel in country music
A legacy that endures
Wilson's influence extends beyond his lifetime. Pet Sounds remains a benchmark for album production, studied by musicians and producers alike. His struggles with mental health, candidly shared in later years, also endeared him to fans, showing his human side.
As tributes pour in, it's clear Wilson's work will continue to inspire.
Brian Wilson's death marks the end of an era, but his music ensures his legacy lives on. From sun-soaked anthems to introspective ballads, his catalogue is a testament to a singular talent.
The Beach Boys' tributes, alongside those from fans and peers, affirm his place as one of music's greatest minds.
READ NOW: Back to the Future: Search is on for the Gibson guitar that was last seen in 1985
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The Citizen
a day ago
- The Citizen
RIP Brian Wilson: Tributes pour in for The Beach Boys' surf-rock poet
The music world mourns pop visionary Brian Wilson, the creative force behind 'The Beach Boys', who passed away on Wednesday. Musician Brian Wilson (left) performs in 2014. The Beach Boys (from left) Al Jardine, Mike Love, Dennis Wilson, Brian Wilson and Carl Wilson of The Beach Boys in Los Angeles in 1964. Inset: John Cusack as Wilson in 'Love & Mercy'. Pictures: Frazer Harrison. Getty Images via AFP, X and River road entertainment/ Battl/ Collection ChristopheL via AFP Brian Wilson, co-founder and creative genius behind The Beach Boys, has died at the age of 82 on Wednesday, 11 June. His passing comes mere days after the death of funk-rock star Sly Stone, who invented his own kind of funky hybrid of rock 'n' roll and R&B with his '60s group Sly and the Family Stone. Over the decades, Wilson was lauded for crafting The Beach Boys' signature harmonies and groundbreaking albums like Pet Sounds. RIP Brian Wilson: 'Sharing our grief with the world' The family of the pop music icon not provide a cause of death in their statement on Instagram. 'We are at a loss for words right now,' said his family. 'We realise that we are sharing our grief with the world.' Wilson was placed under a legal conservatorship last year due to a 'major neurocognitive disorder'. Brian Wilson: The man who shaped the sound of California Born in 1942, Brian Wilson formed The Beach Boys in 1961 with his brothers Dennis and Carl, cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. This image of the band carrying a surfboard featured on their album 'Surfer Girl'. Picture: Screengrab/ X Wilson's ability to blend intricate harmonies with emotional storytelling set The Beach Boys apart in the 1960s. He masterminded signature hits like Surfin' USA, God Only Knows, and Good Vibrations, and his innovative studio production on the landmark album Pet Sounds helped redefine pop music. Crafting a unique sound His work transcended pop, influencing genres from rock to hip-hop. As Elton John noted, Wilson 'shaped music forever' with his fearless creativity. Wilson's genius lay in his meticulous production. He layered vocals and instruments in ways previously unheard, creating a 'California sound' that captured the era's spirit. Tracks like Good Vibrations demonstrated his experimental edge, blending psychedelia with pop. LISTEN: The Beach Boys' biggest hits Personal struggles Despite withdrawing from touring in 1964 due to mental health struggles, Wilson continued to compose and influence music for decades. His life story, marked by both triumph and adversity – including battles with schizoaffective disorder and substance use – has inspired books, documentaries, and biopics. Tributes from bandmates, family and music icons for Brian Wilson His bandmates, alongside global music icons, have shared heartfelt tributes, celebrating a man who 'changed the goalposts' for songwriting. Chorus of voices mourn passing of Brian Wilson Numerous music legends also paid tribute: Nancy Sinatra: 'His cherished music will live forever,' she wrote on Instagram, adding that 'one of the biggest thrills' of her life was singing California Girls with him. John Cusack, who portrayed Wilson in Love & Mercy, wrote on X: 'The maestro has passed – an open heart with two legs… Love and Mercy for you and yours tonight.' The maestro has passed – the man was a open heart with two legs – with an ear that heard the angels. Quite literally. Love and Mercy for you and yours tonight . RIP Brian. Brian wrote down the lyrics of love and mercy for me – — John Cusack (@johncusack) June 11, 2025 READ ALSO: Kris Kristofferson: A rebel in country music A legacy that endures Wilson's influence extends beyond his lifetime. Pet Sounds remains a benchmark for album production, studied by musicians and producers alike. His struggles with mental health, candidly shared in later years, also endeared him to fans, showing his human side. As tributes pour in, it's clear Wilson's work will continue to inspire. Brian Wilson's death marks the end of an era, but his music ensures his legacy lives on. From sun-soaked anthems to introspective ballads, his catalogue is a testament to a singular talent. The Beach Boys' tributes, alongside those from fans and peers, affirm his place as one of music's greatest minds. READ NOW: Back to the Future: Search is on for the Gibson guitar that was last seen in 1985
The South African
a day ago
- The South African
Tributes flood in after the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson dies
Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys co-founder who masterminded the group's wild popularity and soundtracked the California dream, has died, his family announced on Wednesday. He was 82. The statement on Instagram did not give a cause. Wilson was placed under a legal conservatorship last year due to a 'major neurocognitive disorder.' 'We are at a loss for words right now,' said his family. 'We realize that we are sharing our grief with the world.' The pop visionary crafted hits whose success rivaled The Beatles throughout the 1960s, a seemingly inexhaustible string of feel-good tracks including 'Surfin' USA,' 'I Get Around,' 'Fun, Fun, Fun' and 'Surfer Girl' that made the Beach Boys into America's biggest selling band. Brian Wilson didn't surf, but his prodigious pen and genius ear allowed him to fashion the boundary-pushing soundscape of beachside paradise. His lush productions were revered among his peers, with even Bob Dylan once telling Newsweek: 'That ear – I mean, Jesus, he's got to will that to the Smithsonian!' Dylan also paid tribute to Wilson on Wednesday, posting on X 'about all the years I've been listening to him and admiring his genius. Rest in peace dear Brian.' After five years of extraordinary songwriting, in which he produced 200 odes to sun, surfing and suntanned girls, Wilson sank into a deep, drug-fueled depression for decades. He would emerge 35 years later to complete the Beach Boys' unfinished album, 'Smile' – widely regarded as his masterpiece. John Lennon said he considered 'Pet Sounds' (1966) to be one of the best albums of all time, while Paul McCartney said Wilson was a 'genius' – who reduced him to tears with one song from the album, 'God Only Knows,' which Wilson wrote in 45 minutes. Its melancholic depths hinted at Wilson's own painful secret. Born on June 20, 1942 in a Los Angeles suburb, Brian Wilson found music as a haven of safety and joy after an upbringing in which he suffered abuse from his domineering father, who would go on to manage the group. Music was his protection, and The Beach Boys was a family affair: he formed the band with his two brothers Dennis and Carl, his cousin Mike Love and neighbor Al Jardine. Wilson did all the songwriting, arranging and sang and played bass guitar; his bandmates just had to sing in harmony. Their first song 'Surfin,' in 1961, was a loose prototype for the unique sound that would become their signature, a fusion of the rock styles of Chuck Berry and Little Richard with the preppy vocal harmonies of 'The Four Freshmen.' By late 1962, there was hardly a teen who did not know them thanks to the eternal ode to youthful nonchalance, 'Surfin' USA.' But Wilson was ill at ease on stage and did not like recording studios. In 1964 he had a panic attack on a plane to France, after which he stopped touring. He was deaf in his right ear and his mouth sagged when he sang – the result of the many beatings he received from his father. 'It was tough. My dad was quite the slave driver,' Brian Wilson told Rolling Stone magazine in 2018. 'He made us mow the lawn and when we were done, he'd say, 'Mow it again.' The Beach Boys' early songs spoke of simple joys and innocence. But Wilson's writing became darker as he began to eulogize lost youth. He channeled the group towards the more psychedelic rock central to the hippie culture taking hold in California. In 1966 he brought out 'Good Vibrations,' a song recorded in four different studios that consumed over 90 hours of tape and included multiple keys, textures, moods and instrumentations. The single topped the charts and sold one million copies in the United States, but Wilson was at the brink. In 1967, his mental health deteriorated, worn down by his enormous workload and his wild consumption of drugs. He abandoned 'Smile,' planted his grand piano in a sandbox, and took vast quantities of LSD and acid. Eventually diagnosed as schizophrenic, Brian Wilson began hearing voices and thought the famed 'Wall of Sound' producer Phil Spector was spying on him and stealing his work. The group eventually parted ways. The troubled artist had long stints of rehab and relapses as well as legal issues including a lengthy, eyebrow-raising relationship with a controlling psychotherapist who was eventually blocked by a court order from contact with Wilson. The artist credits his marriage to former model Melinda Ledbetter as helping him to rebuild his life. He revived and finished 'Smile,' releasing it in 2004. His brother Dennis drowned in 1983, while Carl died of cancer in 1998. Last year Wilson's family successfully pursued a legal conservatorship following the death of Melinda, with his longtime manager and publicist being put in charge of his affairs. Brian Wilson's seven children were consulted by the conservators regarding major health decisions as a stipulation of the agreement. The musician's many accolades included a Kennedy Center Honor in 2007, when that committee dubbed him 'rock and roll's gentlest revolutionary.' 'There is real humanity in his body of work,' they said, 'vulnerable and sincere, authentic and unmistakably American.' Post your c below, by … Leaving a comment below, or sending a WhatsApp to 060 011 021 1 Subscribe to The South African website's newsletters and follow us on WhatsApp, Facebook, X and Bluesky for the latest news. By Garrin Lambley © Agence France-Presse
TimesLIVE
2 days ago
- TimesLIVE
Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson dies at age 82
Beach Boys cofounder Brian Wilson, who created some of rock's most enduring songs such as Good Vibrations and God Only Knows in a career that was marked by a decades-long battle between his musical genius, drug abuse and mental health issues, has died at the age of 82. Wilson's family announced his death in a statement on the singer's website. 'We are at a loss for words right now,' the statement said. 'We realise that we are sharing our grief with the world.' The statement did not disclose a cause of death. Wilson had suffered from dementia and was unable to care for himself after his wife Melinda Wilson died in early 2024, prompting his family to put him under conservatorship. Starting in 1961, the Beach Boys put out a string of sunny hits celebrating the touchstones of California youth culture — surfing, cars and romance. But what made the songs special was the ethereal harmonies that Wilson arranged and that would become the band's lasting trademark. Wilson formed the band with younger brothers Carl and Dennis, cousin Mike Love and friend Al Jardine in their hometown, the Los Angeles suburb of Hawthorne. They went on to have 36 Top 40 hits, with Wilson writing and composing most of the early works. Songs such as Little Deuce Coupe, Surfin' U.S.A., California Girls, Fun, Fun, Fun and Help Me, Rhonda remain instantly recognisable and eminently danceable. But there were plenty of bad vibrations in Wilson's life: an abusive father, a cornucopia of drugs, a series of mental breakdowns, long periods of seclusion and depression and voices in his head that, even when he was on stage, told him he was no good. 'I've lived a very, very difficult, haunted life,' Wilson told the Washington Post in 2007. In May 2024, a judge ruled the 81-year-old Wilson should be put under a conservatorship after two longtime associates had petitioned the court at his family's request, saying he could not care for himself after the death of his wife, Melinda. By 1966 touring had already become an ordeal for Wilson, who suffered what would be his first mental breakdown. He remained the Beach Boys' mastermind but retreated to the studio to work, usually without his bandmates, on Pet Sounds, a symphonic reflection on the loss of innocence. The landmark Good Vibrations was recorded during those sessions, though it did not make it on to the album. Though Pet Sounds included hits such as Wouldn't It Be Nice Sloop John B and God Only Knows, it was not an immediate commercial success in the US. There also was resistance to the album within the band, especially from singer Love, who wanted to stick with the proven moneymaking sound. 'IT'S LIKE FALLING IN LOVE' Pet Sounds, which was released in 1966, later would come to be recognised as Wilson's magnum opus. Paul McCartney said it was an influence on the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. 'No one's musical education is complete until they've heard Pet Sounds,' McCartney said. In 2012 Rolling Stone magazine ranked it second only to Sgt. Pepper on its list of the 500 greatest rock albums. 'Hearing Pet Sounds gave me the kind of feeling that raises the hairs on the back of your neck and you say, 'What is that? It's fantastic,'' George Martin, the Beatles' legendary producer, said in the liner notes of a reissued version of the album. 'It's like falling in love.' Released as a single that same year, Good Vibrations drew similar plaudits. On hearing the song, which would become the Beach Boys' greatest hit, Art Garfunkel called his musical partner Paul Simon to say: 'I think I just heard the greatest, most creative record of them all.' Stars of the music world paid tribute to Wilson on Wednesday. 'Anyone with a musical bone in their body must be grateful for Brian Wilson's genius magical touch!!,' Fleetwood Mac drummer Mick Fleetwood said on social media. Nancy Sinatra, who recorded a cover of California Girls with Wilson in 2002, wrote on Instagram that Wilson's 'cherished music will live forever'. Sean Ono Lennon, a musician and son of John Lennon, called Wilson 'our American Mozart' and 'a one of a kind genius from another world'. The Beach Boys sold more than 100-million records. Wilson's career would be derailed, though, as his use of LSD, cocaine and alcohol became untenable and his mental state, which would eventually be diagnosed as schizoaffective disorder with auditory hallucinations, grew shakier. He became a recluse, lying in bed for days, abandoning hygiene, growing obese and sometimes venturing out in a bathrobe and slippers. He had a sandbox installed in his dining room and put his piano there. He also heard voices and was afraid that the lyrics of one of his songs were responsible for a series of fires in Los Angeles. UNORTHODOX THERAPY Born in June 1942, Brian Wilson, whose life was the subject of the 2014 movie Love & Merc y, had two controlling men in his life. The first was his father, Murry Wilson, a part-time songwriter who recognised his son's musical talent early. He became the Beach Boys' manager and producer in their early years but also was physically and verbally abusive towards them. The band fired him in 1964. About a decade later, as Wilson floundered, his then-wife, Marilyn, hired psychotherapist Eugene Landy to help him. Landy spent 14 months with Wilson, using unusual methods such as promising him a cheeseburger if he wrote a song, before being dismissed. Landy was rehired in 1983 after Wilson went through another period of disturbing behaviour that included overdosing, living in a city park and running up substantial debt. Landy used a 24-hour-a-day technique, which involved prescribing psychotropic drugs and padlocking the refrigerator, and eventually held sway over all aspects of Wilson's life, including serving as producer and co-writer of his music when he made a comeback with a 1988 solo album. Wilson's family went to court to end his relationship with Landy in 1992. Wilson said Landy had saved his life but also would later call him manipulative. California medical regulators accused Landy, who died in 2006, of improper involvement with a patient's affairs. He gave up his psychology licence after admitting to unlawfully prescribing drugs. Wilson's return to music was spotty. He appeared frail, tentative and shaky and none of the post-comeback work brought anything close to the acclaim of his earlier catalogue. One of the best-received albums of his second act was the 2004 Brian Wilson Presents Smile, a revisiting of the work that had been intended as the follow-up to Pet Sounds but which was scrapped because of opposition from bandmates. Wilson's brothers had both died by the time of the Beach Boys' 50th reunion tour in 2012 but he joined Love, who became the band's controlling force, for several shows. At the end, Wilson said he felt as if he had been fired but Love denied it. Wilson last performed live in 2022. Wilson and his first wife, Marilyn, had two daughters, Carnie and Wendy, who had hits in the 1990s as part of the group Wilson Phillips. He and second wife Melinda, whom he met when she sold him a car, had five children.
