Beach Boys co-founder Brian Wilson dies aged 82
He is the last surviving Wilson brother who was in the band.
Beach Boys star Brian Wilson, the last surviving brother from the band, has died aged 82.
Formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961, the original line-up of the American rock band included brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their friend Al Jardine.
Originally established as a garage band focused on Wilson’s songwriting and managed by their father Murry Wilson, the Beach Boys had their first national hit in 1963 with the hit song Surfin’ USA.
Before the end of the decade the band released an astonishing 15 albums. Other notable hits that followed included Good Vibrations and California Girls.
The Beach Boys were once of the most commercially successful bands of all time, selling more than 100 million records globally.
However today Wilson’s family announced his death. Although a cause of death was not revealed, he had been living with a neurocognitive disorder, believed to be dementia.
His family announced the news today (Picture: Harry Langdon/ Getty Images) Wilson formed the band in 1961 (Picture: Michael Ochs Archives/ Getty Images)Sharing a photo of him sitting on a park bench in recent years, they wrote: ‘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.’
Tributes have started rolling in for the musician, with Rolling Stone Keith Richards posting an an extract of his 2010 memoir, Life, about Wilson on Instagram with the caption ‘Rest in Peace!’.
The extract read: ‘When we first got to American and to LA, there was a lot of Beach Boys on the radio. It was later on, listening to Pet Sounds, well, it’s a little bit overproduced for me, but Brian Wilson had something. I thought these are very well-constructed songs. I took easily to the pop song idiom.’
His bandmate Ronnie Wood also posted on X: ‘Oh no Brian Wilson and Sly Stone in one week – my world is in mourning, so sad.’
Meanwhile Sean Ono Lennon, the son of The Beatles star John Lennon and artist Yoko Ono, said he was devastated by the news.
The original line-up also included Dennis Wilson, David Marks, Carl Wilson and Mike Love (Picture: Michael Ochs Archives/ Getty Images)‘Anyone who really knows me knows how heart-broken I am about Brian Wilson passing. Not many people influenced me as much as he did. I feel very lucky that I was able to meet him and spend some time with him. He was always very kind and generous. He was our American Mozart. A one of a kind genius from another world.’
Brian was the last surviving Wilson brother. In 1983 Dennis drowned aged 39.
Then, in 1998, Carl died aged 51 from lung cancer.
The oldest of the three brothers, Wilson was born in 1942 in Inglewood, California.
The Beach Boys released a staggering 15 albums in the 1960s (Picture: Hulton Archive/ Getty Images) Wilson stopped touring with the band in 1964 and focused on songwriting (Picture: Michael Ochs Archives/ Getty Images)However, their childhood was marred by their father’s abuse, with Wilson regularly beaten and also becoming partially deaf as a child.
Although Wilson once described his father as ‘violent and cruel’, he also credited him with encouraging his sons’ musical talents and ambitions.
He also faced haunting voices in his head from schizoaffective disorder and had previously spoken about his struggles with substance abuse and mental illness throughout the years.
After retreating from the spotlight for years, he made his musical comeback in the 1990sHarry Langdon/ Getty Images)In 1964 Wilson suffered a nervous breakdown and stopped touring, going on to work as a full-time studio artist over the next decade.
However, he did compose, arrange and produce the famous Pet Sounds album alongside songwriter Tony Asher, which was released in 1966 and had become the band’s defining album.
But in 1982 he was formally removed as a partner in the Beach Boys’ Brother Records operation, essentially being fired from his own band.
Two years later Wilson was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic and largely became a recluse.
Four years later he made his musical comeback with the self-titled album Brian Wilson, which was largely met with positive reviews. In 1999 he went on to embark on his first solo tour.
Over the subsequent years he returned to the spotlight and started touring regularly again. His last took place in 2022. After that he was rarely seen in public again.
His wife Melinda Ledbetter died last year (Picture: Jason LaVeris/ FilmMagic)With the other members of the Beach Boys, Wilson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2000.
In May last year, following the death of his wife Melinda, a judge ruled to place Wilson under a conservatorship, which agreed to.
Court documents detailed him having a ‘major neurocognitive disorder’ and that he was unable to care for himself.
Wilson and his wife were married 24 years and leave behind their adopted children Dakota Rose, Daria Rose, Delanie Rose, Dylan and Dash together.
He also had two daughters, Carnie and Wendy, from his first marriage.
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