Beach Boys cofounder Brian Wilson dies at age 82, leaves legacy of musical brilliance and personal struggle
Wilson's death was confirmed in a statement on his official website, which read: 'We are at a loss for words right now. We realize that we are sharing our grief with the world.' The cause of death was not disclosed, though Wilson had suffered from dementia and was placed under conservatorship after the death of his wife, Melinda, in early 2024.
A LEGACY OF HARMONY AND HEARTBREAK
From 1961, the Beach Boys released a string of hits that celebrated the lifestyle of California youth – surfing, cars and summer romance. Wilson, the band's primary creative force, was responsible for arranging the group's ethereal harmonies, a hallmark of their sound.
He founded the band in Hawthorne, California, with his brothers Carl and Dennis, cousin Mike Love and friend Al Jardine. Together, they achieved 36 Top 40 hits, with Wilson writing and composing most of the early tracks.
Their discography includes timeless songs such as Surfin' USA; California Girls; Little Deuce Coupe; Fun, Fun, Fun and Help Me, Rhonda.
But Wilson's personal life was fraught with hardship. He endured an abusive father, severe mental health issues and substance abuse problems that led to long periods of seclusion.
'I've lived a very, very difficult, haunted life,' Wilson told the Washington Post in 2007.
CREATIVE PEAK AND INTERNAL STRUGGLES
Wilson suffered his first mental breakdown in 1966 and began focusing more on studio work. During this time, he composed and produced Pet Sounds, a record that later became known as his magnum opus.
Although initially met with mixed reactions in the United States, Pet Sounds has since been recognised as one of the greatest rock albums of all time. Paul McCartney cited it as a major influence on the Beatles' Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Wilson also composed Good Vibrations during the Pet Sounds sessions. Though it was not included in the album, it became the Beach Boys' most celebrated single. Art Garfunkel reportedly called Paul Simon to say, 'I think I just heard the greatest, most creative record of them all.'
DECLINE AND UNUSUAL THERAPY
Wilson's mental health continued to deteriorate in the 1970s and 1980s. He was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder with auditory hallucinations. He became increasingly reclusive, with accounts describing him lying in bed for days, struggling with hygiene and exhibiting erratic behaviour.
His then-wife Marilyn enlisted psychotherapist Eugene Landy, whose unorthodox and highly controlling methods eventually led to legal intervention. Wilson's family took him to court in 1992 to end the relationship. Landy relinquished his psychology licence after admitting to unlawfully prescribing drugs.
Wilson said Landy had saved his life but later called him manipulative.
LATE RECOGNITION AND FINAL YEARS
Wilson returned to music sporadically, with his post-comeback work rarely matching the acclaim of his early career. In 2004, he released Brian Wilson Presents Smile, a long-delayed project that had originally been scrapped due to internal band conflicts.
In 2012, Wilson reunited with surviving Beach Boys members for a 50th anniversary tour. Although tensions remained, Wilson participated in several shows before reportedly being dismissed, a claim denied by Mike Love.
His final live performance was in 2022.
Wilson's life was portrayed in the 2014 biopic Love & Mercy. He had two daughters, Carnie and Wendy, from his first marriage to Marilyn. The daughters later found success in the 1990s with the pop group Wilson Phillips. He and his second wife Melinda adopted five children.
In May 2024, a judge approved placing Wilson under conservatorship, citing his inability to care for himself following Melinda's death. Despite his struggles, Wilson's contribution to music remains indelible, and his work continues to influence artists across generations.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CNA
5 hours ago
- CNA
Disney's new ESPN app reaches for sports fans outside cable TV
LOS ANGELES -Walt Disney's ESPN will deliver its full range of sports programming outside of pay TV for the first time starting on Thursday, when the network debuts an app designed to be a hub for live games and personalized news, stats and highlights. The ESPN app is Disney's effort to capture some of the tens of millions of customers that the pioneering sports channel has lost since 2010 during the streaming TV revolution. ESPN executives said they have tailored the new offering, which is far broader than the limited ESPN+ app launched in 2018, to cater to the tastes of today's sports fans. "We know that fans don't just want to watch," ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro told reporters. "They want an experience. They want to interact." The app will offer more than 47,000 live events each year from the NFL, NBA, WNBA, NHL, college football, tennis, golf and other sports. It will cost $30 per month. An introductory offer will include ad-supported versions of the Disney+ and Hulu streaming services for free. Fans can enter their favorite teams and sports for customization such as a personalized version of the "SportsCenter" news and recap show. Artificial intelligence will generate narration based on the voices of ESPN anchors. A new feature called "Verts," or scroll-ready, vertical video highlights, also can be tailored. Stats for a user's fantasy players will be displayed next to live games. And an ESPN Bet tab will show live, settled and upcoming bets for users who have linked their betting accounts. Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger has called the app "a sports fan's dream." Industry analysts see it as a chance for the company to pick up fans who do not subscribe to cable, and they do not expect it will pull masses from pay TV. ESPN was available in 100 million homes through pay TV in 2010. In July of this year, that number stood at about 61 million. "It's another step in Disney's pivot to (streaming) and the importance to streaming to the overall company," said MoffettNathanson analyst Robert Fishman. ESPN will promote the app extensively. Actor John Cena will star in commercials that stress "All of ESPN. All in One Place." Pay television will "remain a big part" of ESPN's business, Pitaro said. For the quarter that ended in June, ESPN accounted for $1 billion of Disney's $4.6 billion in operating income, or nearly 22 per cent. Most of ESPN's revenue came from fees paid by cable and satellite distributors and from advertising. Subscribers to pay TV will have access to the new ESPN app. Pitaro said the company hoped to drive all of its customers to the app "because that's by far the best, the most holistic experience."
CNA
17 hours ago
- CNA
Laufey's new album, A Matter of Time, explores anger, love and more
Long before the Icelandic Chinese artist Laufey became recognised the world over for her neoclassical jazz-meets-pop music, she was a student, answering a familiar yearbook prompt: 'Where do you see yourself in 10 years?' Her answer: Move to the US, sign a record deal and win a Grammy. The 26-year-old has done all three. 'I must have been so confident to write that because I remember that being a very far-sought kind of thing,' the musician born Laufey Lín Jónsdóttir told The Associated Press. Those aren't her only accomplishments: She's collaborated with Barbra Streisand, shared the stage with Hozier, Noah Kahan and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. An unexpected nonconformist to the rules of contemporary pop, Laufey's third album, A Matter of Time out Friday (Aug 22), pulls inspiration from country and Icelandic folk music as well as classical and bossa nova sounds. 'My ultimate goal is to introduce young audiences to jazz music, to classical music, to encourage them to learn instruments and explore their own sound,' Laufey said. In a recent interview, Laufey discussed her new album, embracing anger on the record, working with her twin sister and more. WHAT'S THE STORY BEHIND THE TITLE A MATTER OF TIME? I knew I wanted the album to have time as a central theme. I was just so fascinated by how it's kind of like this one thing that humans have no control over, and sometimes we want to speed up and sometimes we want to slow down, but ultimately it's out of our control. And there's something romantic about that to me. Now it's taken on a little bit of a different meaning in that it's basically me baring my soul to the world and baring my soul to a lover. And it's kind of like, 'a matter of time until you find out everything about me'. THE END OF SABOTAGE FELT VERY JARRING, WHICH IS UNEXPECTED. ARE YOU EMBRACING ANGER ON THIS ALBUM? For sure. I think I was never allowed to embrace anger. I was a very good kid growing up. I was very polite and very quiet. I used this as a way to show that you can be angry, and rather, to show also that you can be both a soft, spoken person while still harbouring anger. I think the understanding of women and characters has so much been like one or the other. She's like this, she's a mad woman, she a soft, sweet woman. Like, we're all everything. HOW DO YOU COMPARE THIS ALBUM TO YOUR PAST PROJECTS? This is just the most free I've been. I wasn't following any type of compass in that I wasn't trying to create something as education. I was more so just making music from the heart. I just approached with a whole lot more confidence, even though the album's all about anxiety and learning about oneself and insecurity and delusion. And it's tapping into emotions that I maybe wouldn't have dared to tap into before. It is the most confident I've been, because I don't think I'd have the confidence to put out the music in this album before. YOUR TWIN SISTER JUNIA IS CREDITED ON THE ALBUM. WHAT'S IT LIKE WORKING WITH HER? It's so special. We do everything together. Like, she does everything, pretty much – other than the music, the literal music making – she has her hands in. All the merch, that's all her. The album covers, all the creative, like, music videos, everything – she's such a part of the project. And then she literally plays violin on some of the songs. I know so many artists who talk about how it can be quite lonely, but I've never really been alone. Like, I've always done it in tandem with my sister. YOU'VE SPOKEN ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF ASIAN ROLE MODELS. I THINK YOU'VE BECOME ONE YOURSELF. I grew up in a very, very different, like, homogenous Icelandic community. I didn't see people who looked like me every single day. I saw my mom, that was it. And I guess I saw my identical twin sister, who looked exactly like me. But it's so powerful, seeing someone who looks like you, that you can look up to. I already see more representation, but there's still such a long way to go. I'm still a half-white Asian woman, you know? And I don't want young Asian women to look up and see all of the stars in front of them be half-white either, because what kind of message is that sending? So, I don't know. Anything I can do to lift up voices, create those communities, and empower young Asian artists to do their thing, that's, like, at the centre of my philosophy. YOU'VE DONE ALL THE THINGS YOU SAID YOU WANTED TO DO IN YOUR YEARBOOK. WHAT'S NEXT? I'd love to score a film or do, like, a theme song to a film, preferably a James Bond theme song, because that's, like, my dream. But it's so hard to say because I've ticked off all those simple things off – many are big, but the tick-able ones. I hope I'm still making music and I still hope that I love it.
CNA
18 hours ago
- CNA
Singer Tamar Braxton says she 'almost died' in weekend accident
Singer, actor and reality TV star Tamar Braxton said Tuesday (Aug 19) that she 'almost died' in a weekend accident that she doesn't remember. 'I was found in a pool of blood from my friend with a face injury,' Braxton wrote in an Instagram post. 'I fractured my nose, lost some teeth and mobility." She added: 'I don't even know what happened to me.' Braxton, 48, earlier in the day had posted 'Thank you God for waking me up today,' in an Instagram story. She said she was getting calls after and was struggling to talk so she shared what had happened to her. The post also said 'the way I look at life now is totally different. As my health is on the mend my mental journey begins… pray for me for real'. An email to Braxton's manager seeking more details was not immediately answered. Braxton was part of a singing group with her sisters, including Toni Braxton, who went on to a major solo career. They and other family members appeared on the reality series Braxton Family Values starting in 2011, and Tamar Braxton has since appeared in spin-offs and other reality shows. As an actor, her recent credits include the TV series Kingdom Business. And she has spent much of the year on a solo singing tour.
