The Beach Boys icon and pop music pioneer Brian Wilson has died, age 82.
The news of the innovator’s passing was shared his family on social media today (Wednesday June 11).
“We are heartbroken to announce that our beloved father Brian Wilson has passed away,” wrote his children. “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.”
Last year saw Wilson placed in conservatorship when his family and close friends cited that the icon could no longer care for himself following a dementia diagnosis. This came after the death of Wilson’s wife and longtime manager Melinda Ledbetter Wilson, who had been acting as the music legend’s care-giver and taking care of his needs after a decline in his health. He suffered a lifelong battle with mental illness, including a nervous breakdown in 1964 that saw him resign from regular touring with The Beach Boys to focus on writing and production.
Wilson was known as one of the true geniuses of contemporary for shifting the parameters of what pop could achieve with his experimental approach and dazzling ability for composition, production and textures. Born June 20, 1942 in Inglewood, California, he would form the hugely influential Beach Boys with his brothers Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their friend Al Jardine, in 1961.
Setting themselves apart with their layered vocal harmonies, they scored US Number One singles with the classics ‘Surf City’, ‘I Get Around’, ‘Help Me, Rhonda’ and ‘Good Vibrations’, and reached their creative zenith with 1966 seminal concept album ‘Pet Sounds’ – famously inspiring The Beatles to up their game on ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’, with Paul McCartney often hailing it as his favourite album of all time.
Wilson was just 23-years-old when he wrote and produced the album, which included the untouchable ‘God Only Knows’.
Speaking at the time of Melinda’s death in 2024, Wilson told fans: “My heart is broken”, before paying tribute to his late partner, esteeming her as a “savior” and “anchor”.
“Melinda was more than my wife,” he continued. “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. She was everything for us. Please say a prayer for her.”
In 2014, Bill Pohlad’s biographical film on Wilson’s life, Love & Mercy, was oriented around Wilson’s and Ledbetter’s relationship, as depicted by Paul Dano and Elizabeth Banks respectively, with The Holdovers’ Paul Giamatti playing Eugene Landy. In an interview with ABC Nightline in 2015, Banks recalled a conversation she had with Ledbetter before shooting the film, who understood music to ultimately be Wilson’s “first love”.
“She said to me, ‘Music is his first love’,” said Banks of her conversation with Ledbetter. “Nothing can replace it. It’s his being, it’s his essence, it’s his everything, So I’m settling for second, but it’s a pretty good– it’s a pretty good second’.”
A long-lost country album recorded by Wilson in the early 1970s was also finally been scheduled for release, with ‘Cows In The Pasture’ expected sometime in 2025.
Wilson’s passing also follows the sad loss of fellow legend Sly Stone earlier this week.
This is a developing story. Check back at NME for more information and tributes.
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