Brian Wilson, co-founder of the Beach Boys and a composer who not only created classic songs such as ‘Good Vibrations’, ‘God Only Knows’ and ‘In My Room’ and also one of the greatest albums of all time in Pet Sounds, has died at the age of 82.
Wilson’s death was announced in a statement from his family on Wilson’s website which read: “Please respect our privacy at this time as our family is grieving. We are at a loss for words right now,”
“We realise that we are sharing our grief with the world.”
Tributes from musicians have already begun to pour in. The Guardian reports that Ronnie Wood paid tribute on social media, writing “My world is in mourning” and that Mick Fleetwood wrote that he was “greatly saddened” by the news and that Sean Lennon posted: “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.”
The statement did not disclose a cause of death. However, Wilson had suffered from dementia and after his wife Melinda Wilson died in early 2024, his family put him under conservatorship saying he could not care for himself. His longtime publicist and manager Jean Sievers and business manager LeeAnn Hard were put in charge of his affairs. A judge ruled that Wilson had suffered a “major neurocognitive disorder” and that his seven children were to be consulted by the conservators regarding major health decisions.
Wilson formed the Beach Boys with his younger brothers Carl and Dennis, cousin Mike Love and friend Al Jardine in the Los Angeles suburb of Hawthorne. The band went on to have 36 top 40 hits, starting with their surfing and car songs such as ‘Surfin’ USA’, ‘Little Deuce Coupe’, ‘Fun, Fun, Fun’, ‘California Girls’ and ‘Help Me, Rhonda’. In the mid-60’s Wilson’s genius as a composer and producer came to the fore as the music evolved the into far more complex songs, resulting in songs such as ‘Good Vibrations’ and the album Pet Sounds, which had a profound influence on other musicians including The Beatles.
“I figure no one is educated musically ’til they’ve heard Pet Sounds,” said Paul McCartney. “I love the orchestra, the arrangements – it may be going overboard to say it’s the classic of the century – but to me, it certainly is a total, classic record that is unbeatable in many ways. I’ve often played Pet Sounds and cried.”
Bob Dylan said of Wilson’s talents: “Jesus, that ear. He should donate it to the Smithsonian. The records I used to listen to and still love, you can’t make a record that sounds that way. Brian Wilson, he made all his records with four tracks, but you couldn’t make his records if you had a hundred tracks today.”
One of Wilson’s collaborators Van Dyke Parks said: “Brian knew exactly what he wanted to hear and he had it in his head when he walked into the room. He was seized by the power of his talent and his musicality. The only thing that I ever suggested musically to Brian was the cello triplets on “Good Vibrations.” That was the only time I ever dared to say anything to him about music.”
Despite his success, Wilson was a troubled soul. He and his brothers had an abusive father and then Brian indulged in mind-altering drugs and suffered a number of mental breakdowns which forced him to stop touring and sent him into long periods of seclusion. He largely retreated to the studio where he created some of his acclaimed masterpieces. The band continued to release albums for the next two decades with Wilson providing the creativity behind the scenes.
In the 1990s Wilson came under the influence of psychologist Eugene Landy who helped Wilson develop his solo career but also came to dominate that career and his life until the arrangement came to an untidy end.
The Beach Boys continued to tour without Wilson, as they did for decades to come, although he occasionally joined them. Mike Love began touring under the band’s name and Wilson and Al Jardine also toured together, including for a 50th anniversary Pet Sounds tour in 2016.
Brian Wilson toured Australia first in 1999 and in later years with the Los Angeles-based band The Wondermints. He also participated in The 50th Reunion Tour with The Beach Boys in 2012. In 2016, Wilson toured here, including an appearance at Bluesfest on Easter Monday, celebrating the 50th anniversary of Pet Sounds, which he performed in its entirety.