Brian Wilson, the driving force behind the Beach Boys whose sprawling compositions and studio prowess influenced rock musicians from the Beatles to Radiohead and points between, has died, his family announced Wednesday. He was 82.
“We are heartbroken to announced that our beloved father Brian Wilson has passed away,” the family wrote on his X account, Instagram and website. “We are at a loss for words right now. Please respect our privacy at this time as our family grieving. We realize that we are sharing our grief with the world. Love & Mercy.”
A cause of death was not immediately given.
Wilson’s imaginative use of the recording studio shifted the paradigm of pop music, as his novel use of effects, string sections, complex harmonies and expansive themes justified the word by which he was universally described: genius. All of it was predicated on Wilson’s wizard-level songwriting, which propelled the Beach Boys to worldwide superstardom and cemented their surf- and car-themed songs into enduring history.
But beyond sweet high harmonies and summer anthems, Wilson was a pop-culture figure whose influence spanned decades. He credited his well-documented struggles with mental illness as a creative ally, describing how he could hear songs develop in his head as clearly as one might hear them come through the speakers.
Wilson launched the Beach Boys in 1961 – as the band’s songwriter, co-lead vocalist, bassist, keyboardist and producer – and within a few years had written more than two dozen Top 40 hits including “Surf City,” “I Get Around,” “Help Me Rhonda” and “Good Vibrations.” He suffered a nervous breakdown in 1964 and was forced to drop out of regular concert touring – a turn of events that would give birth to some of the most influential recorded music in history.
Turning his full attention to songwriting and studio production, Wilson produced “Pet Sounds,” among the most celebrated albums in any genre of music history. Desiring to transcend the surf- and car-themed singles that made The Beach Boys famous, Wilson sought to create a cohesive complete work, packing his 1966 vision with unforgettable hits “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” “God Only Knows,” “Sloop John B” and “Caroline, No,” using the famed Los Angles-based studio musicians knew as The Wrecking Crew to lay in his unique vision.
The “concept album” was born, giving inspiration to the Beatles to create “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” and dozens of similar efforts in the decades to come.
By the end of the decade, Wilson’s mental health and productivity severely declined, leading to a long season of reclusion, weight gain and substance abuse. His 1977 comeback effort “The Beach Boys Love You” was almost an entirely solo effort, as the namesake band, including brothers and cousins, had descended into acrimony.
By the 1980s he was under the control of Eugene Landy, his psychologist, a business and creative partnership that was dissolved when his family succesfully filed for conservatorship in 1991. From 1999 to 2022, he toured regularly as a solo artist. His most recent marriage was to Linda Ledbetter, who died last year.
His eldest daughter, Carnie Wilson, was with his first wife Marilyn Rovell; she became a singer and TV personality after a successful run with the pop trio Wilson Phillips, which also included younger daughter Wendy Wilson.
Wilson and Ledbetter adopted five children, Daria Rose, Delanie Rose, Dylan, Dash and Dakota Rose, all of whom bore his last name.
