He was 82 years old.
Photo Credit: Brian Wilson – Facebook
Brian Wilson, the genius behind The Beach Boys and one of the most influential composers in American pop history, has died at the age of 82. His family confirmed the news in a statement, writing: “We are heartbroken… Please respect our privacy at this time as our family is grieving. We realise that we are sharing our grief with the world.”
Born in Hawthorne, California, in 1942, Wilson formed The Beach Boys in 1961 alongside his brothers Carl and Dennis, cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. What began as a group of surf-obsessed teenagers from Southern California quickly evolved into one of the most revolutionary acts of the 20th century. With Wilson at the creative helm, the band married lush harmonies with unorthodox chord progressions and studio experimentation that changed the vocabulary of pop music forever.
Though known initially for their odes to California youth culture (sun, surf, and cars), Wilson’s restless musical imagination soon eclipsed the genre they helped define. His obsessive drive culminated in ‘Pet Sounds’ (1966), a deeply personal and harmonically ambitious album that broke new ground in multitrack recording, orchestration, and emotional depth. The album would go on to influence generations of artists, including The Beatles, who cited it as a key inspiration for ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’.
Wilson’s later years were marked by immense personal struggle. Diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in 1984, he spent much of the following decades battling mental illness and the lasting effects of drug use. Despite this, his stature as a revered and tragic figure in American music only grew, and his legacy was periodically renewed through solo projects, reissues, and long-overdue tributes. In 2004, he completed and released ‘Smile’, the mythical “lost album” originally conceived as a follow-up to ‘Pet Sounds’.
The Beach Boys’ catalog includes a litany of pop landmarks, including ’God Only Knows’, ‘Don’t Worry Baby’, ‘Wouldn’t It Be Nice’, and ‘Good Vibrations’, the latter considered one of the most innovative singles ever recorded. The group has sold over 100 million records worldwide and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988. Rolling Stone ranked them No. 12 on its list of the “100 Greatest Artists of All Time.”
Wilson suffered a devastating personal loss in 2024 when his wife of 24 years, Melinda Ledbetter, died. Together, they adopted five children: Dakota, Daria, Delanie, Dylan, and Dash. He also had two daughters, Carnie and Wendy, from his first marriage—both members of the vocal trio Wilson Phillips. In early 2024, it was publicly revealed that Wilson had been diagnosed with dementia.
Brian Wilson leaves behind a legacy that reshaped modern music and gave voice to both the innocence and turbulence of the American psyche.
He was, as Paul McCartney once said, “the greatest genius in pop music.”
Listen to “Pet Sounds” below.