The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson dies at 82

One of the founding members of the iconic band The Beach Boys has died.

Brian Wilson was 82 years old.

His family announced his death on his official webpage but provided no details.

The announcement simply said, “We are heartbroken to announce that our beloved father Brian Wilson has passed away. 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.”

Brian Wilson was born on June 20, 1942, in Inglewood, California, to a heavy-machinery salesman father and a mother who was a homemaker, according to The New York Times.

The Beach Boys started in 1961 in Hawthorne, California, founded by brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson. They were joined by their cousin Mike Love and friend Al Jardine, The Washington Post reported.

Their first single, “Surfin’,” was all it would take to make them a nationally known group. That song led to Capitol Records as the label’s first rock band.

The Post called Brian Wilson “the widely acknowledged mastermind behind their music.”

He wrote such hits as “Surfin’ USA,” “Surfer Girl,” “I Get Around,” and “California Girls,” among others.

Brian Wilson was also the producer of the 1966 “Pet Sounds” album, which is considered the first and greatest rock “concept” album that is based on a single theme.

The Beatles had said “Pet Sounds” inspired “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.”

“It was ‘Pet Sounds’ that blew me out of the water,” Paul McCartney had said, according to The New York Times. “I figure no one is educated musically ’til they’ve heard that album.”

The album has been ranked as No. 2 on Rolling Stone’s greatest album of all time lists in 2003 and 2020, the Times reported.

Brian Wilson’s songwriting evolved from formulas to what is considered an “outsider” that challenged the typical songwriting of the time. Music critic Sasha Frere-Jones called him “indie rock’s muse,” the Post reported.

Brian Wilson’s brother Dennis once said, “Brian Wilson is the Beach Boys. He is all of it. Period. We’re nothing. He’s everything.”

But Brian Wilson had a hidden side, the opposite of the upbeat surfer songs.

The Post reported he was partially deaf, depressed, and a socially awkward person who never surfed, never spent much time on the beach, but rather stayed alone in his room.

Different reasons for his deafness had been shared over the decades, with some saying it was caused by being hit by a neighborhood boy, to being hit by his father, the Times reported.

“My dad was violent,” Brian Wilson wrote in his memoir, “I Am Brian Wilson.” “He was cruel.”

As for surfing, he said, “I tried it once and got conked on the head with the board.”

He had a mental breakdown in the late 1960s that affected his songwriting as reflected in the song “Til I Die,” from 1971’s “Surf’s Up.”

The lyrics included the lines:

“I’m a cork on the ocean,

“Floating over the raging sea,

“How deep is the ocean?

“I lost my way.”

After “Pet Sounds,” he worked on the single “Good Vibrations,” that was compiled from months of recordings. One segment had 25 to 30 overdubs that lasted five seconds, Love said, according to the Times.

Following “Good Vibrations,” Brian Wilson worked on the album “Smile.”

The Post said he brought in a custom sand pit into his home, while the Times said he had studio musicians wear firefighters’ helmets for the song “Fire” while a smoldering bucket sat near them. But the track was forgotten when a nearby building caught fire around the same time they were recording it, because he thought studio “witchcraft” caused the blaze.

After 72 studio sessions were complete, “Smile” was shelved for decades.

Eventually, “Smile” tracks were included on several albums, with the entire recordings released in 2011, the Post reported.

Brian Wilson would be diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, auditory hallucinations and paranoia.

Love called “Smile” “a whole album of Brian’s madness,” the Times reported.

He sought help from psychotherapist Eugene Landy, who monitored the entertainer for 24 hours a day, locking his refrigerator and eventually sharing the copyrights on some of the songs, and being listed as a songwriter on some tracks.

The band kicked Brian Wilson out in late 1982, after which he went into seclusion and was under Landy’s care, the Times reported.

Landy eventually surrendered his license after his practice was investigated by California officials. The Wilson family also got a court order blocking Landy from contacting his former patient.

Landy died in 2006.

“Good Vibrations” was the final hit of the band until 1988’s “Kokomo,” which the Beach Boys made without Brian Wilson.

Brian Wilson’s wife, Melinda, died last year and he was put under conservatorship by a federal judge. The singer, songwriter and producer had previously been diagnosed with dementia, The New York Times reported.

Brian Wilson leaves behind five children, including Carnie and Wendy Wilson, who are part of the group Wilson Phillips.

His brothers, Dennis died in 1983 from drowning and Carl died in 1998 from lung cancer, the Times reported.

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