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Delta Goodrem surprises commuters with a piano performance at St Pancras

Delta Goodrem surprises commuters with a piano performance at St Pancras

News.com.au28-05-2025

London St. Pancras International played host to inspiring Australian singer, Delta Goodrem, with an impromptu piano performance. The performance follows Delta's two concerts at the Hackney Empire celebrating the 20th anniversary of her album Mistaken Identity.

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Beach Boy Brian Wilson, surf rock poet, dies at 82
Beach Boy Brian Wilson, surf rock poet, dies at 82

News.com.au

timean hour ago

  • News.com.au

Beach Boy Brian Wilson, surf rock poet, dies at 82

Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys co-founder who masterminded the group's wild popularity and soundtracked the California dream, has died, his family announced 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. 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!" But 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. - 'Surfin' USA' - 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, 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." - Lost youth - 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," 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, 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. - 'Gentlest revolutionary' - 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. 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."

Brian Wilson, Beach Boys co-founder, dies aged 82
Brian Wilson, Beach Boys co-founder, dies aged 82

SBS Australia

timean hour ago

  • SBS Australia

Brian Wilson, Beach Boys co-founder, dies aged 82

Beach Boys co-founder Brian Wilson, who created some of rock's most enduring songs such as Good Vibrations and God Only Knows 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. Wilson was the eldest and last surviving of the three musical brothers who formed the United States rock band in 1961, alongside their cousin Mike Love and school friend Al Jardine. The band, known for their vocal harmonies, signed with Capitol Records in 1962 and released their first album, Surfin' Safari, that same year. Wilson was born on June 20 1942, and began to play the piano and teach his brothers to sing harmony as a young boy. Music was a haven of safety and joy for Wilson after an upbringing in which he suffered abuse from his domineering father, who would go on to manage the group. The Beach Boys started as a neighbourhood act, rehearsing in Wilson's bedroom and in the garage of their house in suburban Hawthorne, California. Wilson played bass while his brother Dennis drummed and Carl played lead guitar. The band's work centred on Wilson's songwriting and arrangements. Their debut single, Surfin', became a minor hit on its release in 1961 but was nothing compared with the success that followed from their second studio album, Surfin' USA, released in 1963. The band's 1966 album Pet Sounds is considered by many their defining work — and is often cited as one of the greatest albums of all time. Wilson's career would be derailed, though, as his drug use became untenable and his mental state, which would eventually be diagnosed as schizoaffective disorder with auditory hallucinations, grew shakier. Splitting from the band in the late 1990s, Wilson released several solo albums, including 2004's critically acclaimed Smile. 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 in its later years, for several shows They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 and received a Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award in 2001.

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