Brian Wilson, the co-founder and primary songwriter of the Beach Boys, has died, his family announced. While an official cause of death was not disclosed, the beloved musical auteur, who helped pioneer the studio-as-instrument, influencing generations of musicians in pop and beyond, was revealed in early 2024 to be living with a neurocognitive disorder akin to dementia. Wilson was 82 years old.
“We are heartbroken to announce that our beloved father Brian Wilson has passed away,” his family wrote in a statement shared on Wilson’s official Facebook. “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.”
Born in Inglewood, California, Wilson formed the band—then called the Pendletones—as a teenager with his brothers Dennis and Carl, their cousin Mike Love, and high school friend Al Jardine. Their first song, “Surfin’,” was released by Candix Records, who changed the band’s name to the Beach Boys without the members’ permission. A year later, the band signed with Capitol to release its debut, Surfin’ Safari; the following year, “Surfin’ U.S.A.” became the Beach Boys’ first U.S. Top 10 single. In 1963, the band released three albums: Surfin’ U.S.A., Surfer Girl, and Little Deuce Coupe. By then, Wilson had started his career as a producer for other musicians. He worked with Jan and Dean, the Castellas, Donna Loren, Sharon Marie, and others.
In 1964, Brian Wilson decided to stop touring with the Beach Boys after experiencing a panic attack due to the band’s heavy schedule. He focused on his production, and in 1965 started work on the landmark experimental pop album Pet Sounds. Wilson was the mastermind behind the Pet Sounds sessions, working alongside famed studio musicians the Wrecking Crew. At the time of its release, Pet Sounds was considered a relative commercial flop and critical failure. In 2004, it was inducted into the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry due to its cultural, historical, and aesthetic significance.
“I wanted to grow musically, so I experimented,” Wilson told the Harvard Business Review in 2016. “I wasn’t the type to sit around and be satisfied with an accomplishment, especially not in the studio. And I had ideas coming into my head all the time. Many had to do with using instruments as voices and voices as instruments. I would put sounds together to create something new. Some ideas didn’t work, because they were too difficult to achieve at the time. But most did. And then I immediately moved to the next thing.”
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