Brian Wilson, a founding member and primary songwriter of the Beach Boys, has died. He was 82.
“We are heartbroken to announce that our beloved father Brian Wilson has passed away,” the late musician’s family wrote in a post shared on Instagram on June 11.
“We are at a loss for words right now,” the family wrote. “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.”
An official cause of death has not been released. However, in early 2024, Wilson’s family disclosed that he had been suffering from a neurocognitive disorder akin to dementia and that they were seeking a co-conservatorship for him following the death of his wife, Melinda Ledbetter.
Born in Inglewood, California, Wilson formed a band as a teenager with his younger brothers Dennis and Carl, cousin Mike Love, and high school friend Al Jardine. Originally called the Pendletones, the group released their first single, “Surfin',” in 1961 through Candix Records. Without first seeking the members’ permission, the company changed the band’s name to the Beach Boys to capitalize on Southern California’s surfing craze.
The band went on to revolutionize American pop music, producing such hits as “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” “God Only Knows,” and “Surfin' U.S.A.,” the latter of which reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the summer of 1963. With Wilson as the group’s creative engine, the Beach Boys released more than a dozen albums before the end of the decade.
“The Beach Boys were a family—three brothers, a cousin, and a friend—which gave us a cohesiveness,” Wilson said in an interview with the Harvard Business Review in 2016. “But I think the key to our success was respecting one another’s ideas and opinions.”
In 1964, Wilson stopped touring with the band to focus on songwriting and production. Two years later, he delivered “Pet Sounds,” widely considered his magnum opus and a landmark of experimental pop. Produced almost entirely by Wilson, the 1966 album was praised by Rolling Stone as “by far the best album Brian had delivered.”
“Previous Beach Boy albums were also based on strong conceptual images—the dream world of Surf, wired-up rods with metal flake paint, and curvaceous cuties lounging around the (implicitly suburban and affluent) high school,” the publication said in a 1972 perspective. “But Pet Sounds ... nobody was prepared for anything so soulful, so lovely, something one had to think about so much.”
In 2004, the Library of Congress inducted “Pet Sounds” into its National Recording Registry, citing the album’s “cultural, historical, and aesthetic significance.”
However, Wilson’s success was shadowed by mental health struggles. He suffered several nervous breakdowns during the mid- and late-1960s, and heavy drug use in subsequent years only exacerbated his condition.
In 1975, the Beach Boys enlisted psychologist Eugene Landy to oversee Wilson’s care. Landy’s influence became increasingly domineering, and in 1982, Wilson was formally removed from the band. A conservatorship suit filed by his family in 1991 severed ties with Landy and resulted in a restraining order against him.
Wilson married Melinda Ledbetter in 1995. The couple remained together until her death on Jan. 30, 2024, at age 77. Melinda served as Wilson’s caretaker and conservator throughout their marriage.
“Melinda was more than my wife,” Wilson wrote following her death. “She was my savior. She gave me the emotional security I needed to have a career. She encouraged me to make the music that was closest to my heart. She was my anchor.”
Wilson is survived by his two children with his first wife Marilyn Wilson, the five children he adopted with Melinda, and several grandchildren.
