Barry Keoghan 'couldn't look at' Sir Ringo Starr
Barry Keoghan "couldn't look" at Sir Ringo Starr when he went to visit the Beatles legend. The 'Banshees of Inisherin' actor is set to play the 84-year-old drummer in director Sam Mendes' four-film series about the group and he was too "nervous" to show off his own musical skills in front of Ringo. Speaking on 'Jimmy Kimmel Live', Barry said: "I met him at his house, and he played the drums for m. He asked me to play, but I wasn't playing the drums for Ringo. "And when I was talking to him, I couldn't look at him. I was nervous, like right now. But he's like, 'You can look at me.'" The 32-year-old actor doesn't want to just "imitate" Ringo in his performance but is keen to "study" the musician as much as he can. He said: "My job is to observe and kinda taken in mannerisms and study him. "I want to humanise him and bring feelings to it and not just sort of imitate." Despite his nerves at their meeting, Barry found Ringo to be "absolutely lovely". Although Sam only confirmed his cast - Barry, Paul Mescal as Sir Paul McCartney, Harris Dickinson as the late John Lennon and Joseph Quinn as the late George Harrison - last month, Ringo himself revealed the 'Saltburn' actor was set to play him last November. Speaking with 'Entertainment Tonight' about the actor's rumoured involvement in the project, Ringo said: 'I think it's great. 'I believe he's somewhere taking drum lessons, and I hope not too many.' Director Sam previously explained that he pitched the idea of making four films about the 'Hey Jude' group in 2023 and wowed Sony executives Tom Rothman and Elizabeth Gabler with his plans. He told Deadline last year: "We went out to Los Angeles just before Christmas to pitch the project, and it's fair to say we were met with universal enthusiasm. "The reason Sony stood out from competing offers was down to Tom and Elizabeth's passion for the idea, and commitment to propelling these films theatrically in an innovative and exciting way." The movies have the approval of the surviving Beatles, Paul and Ringo, and of John and George's families. It marks the first time both them and rights holders Apple have granted a scripted film full life story and music rights. It is currently unclear when the movies will be released or in what order.
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Washington Post
an hour ago
- Washington Post
What would music be without the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson? God only knows.
For rock connoisseurs, it's decidedly uncool to love the Beach Boys. Why choose the corny regional sexual stereotypes of 'California Girls' over the frank lust of 'I Saw Her Standing There'? or the snarl of '(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction'? What could those matching vertical striped shirts possibly have on the Beatles' sharp suits or Bob Dylan's untamed curls? Is there really that much lyrical potential in American muscle cars?
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Remembering the Beach Boys' masterwork Pet Sounds as we mourn Brian Wilson's death
Remembering the Beach Boys' masterwork Pet Sounds as we mourn Brian Wilson's death The death of Beach Boys mastermind Brian Wilson reminds us all that the great artists don't live forever, and we should cherish their masterworks while they're here. Wilson's career spans more than half a century, as he's one of the fathers of modern pop music as we know it. While it's easy to imagine pastel surf boards and island getaways when you remember the Beach Boys in totality, Pet Sounds remains the group's signature achievement. Heck, it remains one of the signature achievements in the album's history. Thanks to Wilson's unreal genius and breathtaking vulnerability, Pet Sounds has stood through the decades since its 1966 release as one of the benchmarks for the album concept. As the album model start to cater more to streaming analytics than to artistic curation, Pet Sounds both revolutionized the way pop music would be crafted in all the years since and outlined exactly how the album should function as a conceptual whole. It's easy to geek out about Wilson's uncanny twist on the Wall of Sound or the innovative blend of instruments like French Horn and the Electro-Theremin and simple sounds like a bicycle bell. Sonically speaking, Pet Sounds is one of the foundational albums for musical exploration. However, the album is Wilson's soul bared for all to hear, and it remains one of the most profound revelations of what it means to love somebody that's even been realized. The true greatness of Pet Sounds expands past it groundbreaking musicality. The album captures as well as any in the form's history how to love and sadness are inseparable, and how the act of loving somebody else will always carry with it a deep pang of sadness that only ironclad love can provide. The religiosity of the album is always evident, as Wilson approaches the throne of understanding, the God of whoever will listen, with the innocent heart and unbearable longing of adolescence trying to figure out these immaculate feelings inside. "God Only Knows" remains the great American achievement in pop songwriting and performance, as Wilson and co-writer Tony Asher penning a lovesick rainbow that perfectly balances the joy of having someone and the pain of potentially having to let that person go. "God only knows what I'd be without you." Wilson's brother, Carl, leads the haunting vocals, backed by Brian Wilson and fellow Beach Boy Bruce Johnston. The song ebbs and flows between elegiac tribute and sorrowful pleading; it's the ultimate love song because it perfectly captures just how much love connects you to someone, to the point where only the upmost high could even possibly comprehend what it's like not to have that love in your life. It might be the best song ever written, an opinion shared by Beatles frontman Paul McCartney. "It's one of the few songs that reduces me to tears every time I hear it. It's really just a love song, but it's brilliantly done. It shows the genius of Brian," McCartney said about "God Only Knows." The rest of the album speaks for itself. You can't imagine a modern pop landscape without "Wouldn't It Be Nice" in particular, the otherworldly blend of young love matched against the cruel realities of youth. "Don't Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)" one of the best examples of Brian Wilson's spellbinding voice meshing in harmony with his dreamlike production style. The music is so beautiful, playful and wind-in-your-hair freeing, but it's also just everything about that pit in your stomach and that draw on your heart you feel when you look at the one you adore the most. It's emotionally maturity through the filter of youthful wistfulness. There probably hasn't been a compilation of music to ever capture those complicated feelings as well as Pet Sounds did all those years ago. Is it the greatest album of all time? You'll have plenty of Liverpool's most faithful stumping for Sgt. Pepper's and Abbey Road, and the enormity of music makes it virtually impossible to compare apples and oranges with Pet Sounds to something like Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly or Nirvana's Nevermind. Rolling Stone recently listed Wilson's masterpiece second behind Marvin Gaye's What's Going On, for example. At news of Wilson's death, it's just as good a time as ever to recognize Pet Sounds' eternal statue in music writ large. God only knows what we'd do without such a titanic achievement, one that latched itself to our hearts long ago and always gave us a beacon light to navigate the loving seas of happiness, sadness and everything in between. Wilson's genius and heart continues to guide us all these years later. Listen to it back during this time of all times with the person you love most.
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
Brian Wilson, Beach Boys cofounder and 'God Only Knows' genius, dies at 82
Brian Wilson, Beach Boys cofounder and 'God Only Knows' genius, dies at 82 Show Caption Hide Caption Brian Wilson, Beach Boys creative genius, dead at age 82 Brian Wilson, the genius behind sunny Beach Boys songs that helped define popular music in the '60s, has died. Brian Wilson, an eclectic genius whose sunny Beach Boys songs helped define a revved-up era of American popular music, has died at age 82. Wilson's family announced his death on social media Wednesday, June 11, and did not cite a cause. "We are heartbroken to announce that our beloved father Brian Wilson has passed away. We are at a loss for words right now," the post on X read. "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." USA TODAY has reached out to Wilson's rep for comment. Wilson is survived by daughters from his first marriage, Carnie and Wendy, who achieved success as part of Wilson Phillips, and five adopted children from his second marriage to Melinda Ledbetter. Wilson's epic career arc spanned most of his life and was as defined by prolonged bouts of mental illness as it was by meticulously constructed pop confections. Essential Brian Wilson songs: 'God Only Knows,' 'Good Vibrations' and more Despite decades away from the musical mainstream in the 1970s and '80s, when his psychological torments were most aggressive, Wilson's towering impact was never in question. The sublime harmonizing on beach- and car-themed tunes such as "California Girls" or "Little Deuce Coupe" came to define the Southern California ethos, while the inspired orchestration on the Wilson-produced album "Pet Sounds" caused a bowled-over Beatles to respond with "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." Brian Wilson was drawn to music early on and succeeded despite obstacles Wilson achieved such heights despite issues that could have been insurmountable. As a musically precocious child, he was found to have significant hearing loss in his right ear. Its surmised cause ranged from a birth defect to physical abuse at the hands of Wilson's authoritarian father, who in the early days managed the family band that paired siblings with cousins. Wilson was born June 20, 1942 in Inglewood, California, a Los Angeles suburb that would boom in the post-war years as a hub for everything from aerospace jobs to nascent TV production. Wilson was a tall, blond and handsome jock, a football quarterback who was popular at school and not much of a student. His interest in music was consuming and led the teenager to spend hours playing piano and learn the basics of composition and even sound engineering when the gift of a tape recorder found him overdubbing vocals with his brothers and mother. Inspired by the vocal harmonies of groups such as the Four Freshmen, Wilson in the fall of 1961 formed a band with his brothers Carl and Dennis, cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Initially, their name was the Pendletones, a reference to the then-popular Pendleton plaid shirt. But the small record label that released their debut single 'Surfin'',' produced by their manager father Murray and a nod to a new beach craze, renamed them the Beach Boys. Only Dennis Wilson actually surfed, but the zeitgeist-nailing moniker stuck. Over the next four years, the Beach Boys ruled the airwaves. Wilson crafted 3-minute harmony-rich pop triumphs aimed at teens much the way his producing idol, Phil Spector, had captured that same audience with his fabled Wall of Sound effects. Celebrating cars, surfing and teen romance, the hits poured from Wilson's pen: 'Surfin' U.S.A,' '409,' 'Be True to Your School,' 'California Girls.' But Wilson's ambitions almost immediately ranged far beyond simply appearing in a popular act. In 1963 alone, the 22-year-old wunderkind had sung, produced, arranged and otherwise guided dozens of songs for groups such as Jan and Dean, the Honeys and the Castells. But a challenge to his genius would soon arrive from overseas. Beach Boys, Beatlemania and the perfection of 'Pet Sounds' Just as Wilson and the Beach Boys were enjoying chart-topping success with 'I Get Around' and its B-side, 'Don't Worry Baby,' Beatlemania swept the U.S. Wilson saw the Mop Tops as formidable challengers and rivals to his band's otherwise undisputed stranglehold on the airwaves. While that rivalry caused Wilson to double down in the studio, it also started to reveal cracks in his fragile psyche that soon would turn into debilitating chasms. By the mid-'60s, Wilson had begged off most Beach Boys tours so he could stay in the studio and avoid the public limelight, with Bruce Johnston eventually replacing him permanently on tour. Frustration over being pigeon-holed as a surf band grew, as did increasingly emotional outbursts and rumors of growing drug use, particularly acid. Nevertheless, after being holed up for months at home writing music, Wilson unveiled a masterpiece in May 1966. 'Pet Sounds,' which included now-classic songs ranging from the theremin-infused 'Good Vibrations' to the aching 'God Only Knows,' didn't immediately strike a chord with fans, but it knocked out the Beatles. The Fab Four used 'Pet Sounds' as inspiration for taking their own studio adventures to new heights and responded in May 1967 with their own coup de grace, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." Wilson then planned his own response to the Beatles opus was a new album called 'Smile.' But that effort would only see the light of day in 2011. Brian Wilson's mental health and fraught relationships Instead of a new triumph, Wilson descended into seclusion. In later years, he would be diagnosed as having schizoaffective disorder, a mental health condition marked by hallucinations, depression and paranoia. Often, he heard voices. Cloistered in his Bel Air mansion, Wilson did drugs and ate obsessively. Although Wilson stayed connected with the group he founded and would offer a range of creative input from his isolation, his condition became more extreme after the death of the family patriarch in 1973. Stories circulated of Wilson's strange behavior, including rumors of him rarely leaving his bed, impromptu appearances at Los Angeles clubs in just a bathrobe and slippers, and turning away visiting stars such as Paul and Linda McCartney. Carnie Wilson calls Beach Boys dad Brian Wilson 'the strongest person I know' In 1976, Wilson managed a bit of a comeback into public life after going into the care of controversial psychologist Eugene Landy. But the comeback would not last. Although able to still function in the studio on occasion, Wilson resumed his self-destructive routine, eventually overdosing in 1982. Family members then asked Landy to return, who agreed on the condition that he be able to take over all of Wilson's affairs. A destructive relationship ensued. In 1988, the album 'Brian Wilson' marked the singer and producer's return to the musical spotlight, generally receiving positive reviews. But it was largely overshadowed by the Beach Boys' own hit 'Kokomo,' their first hit since 'Good Vibrations' and a song that had no input from their founder. Wilson's solo outings were emblematic of the schism that had developed between him and the group he founded. The deepest rift was with cousin and lead singer Love, who in earlier days objected to Wilson veering away from the chart-topping fare of the band's youth in favor of more experimental music such as the sound-effects laden creativity found on "Pet Sounds." Love frequently disparaged Wilson in the media, and later successfully sued his cousin for retroactive songwriting credits. Love also retained the rights to the Beach Boys name, and spent decades touring with some of the original members while Wilson was left to hit the road under his own name. But despite the ongoing tensions, the '90s saw Wilson gradually get his house in order. A conservatorship suit filed by Wilson's family dissolved what remained of Landy's stranglehold on his one-time patient's affairs. Wilson then collaborated in 1995 with producer Don Was on a documentary about his life, 'Brian Wilson: I Just Wasn't Made for These Times,' and in 1999 embarked on his first solo tour. A reinvigorated legacy came later in life for Brian Wilson Finally under traditional medical care and medicine, Wilson was able to better access his gifts in the new millennium. In 2010, he released a well-received album re-imagining George Gershwin staples, the storied composer who allegedly first inspired a young Wilson when he heard 'Rhapsody in Blue' as a child. In 2014, Wilson's life and times were the subject of a well-reviewed biopic called 'Love & Mercy,' starring both John Cusack and Paul Dano as an older and younger Brian Wilson. Reinvigorated in his latter years, Wilson hit the road in 2016 to perform 'Pet Sounds' in its entirety, and continued to entertain fans before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The inspired young musician who first rounded up a band in his teens saw no reason to stop entertaining as a grandfather, perhaps in part make to up for all those lost decades. 'Retirement? Oh, man. No retiring,' Wilson told Rolling Stone in 2016. 'If I retired I wouldn't know what to do with my time. What would I do? Sit there and go, 'Oh, I don't want to be 74'? I'd rather get on the road.'
