Genius behind many of The Beach Boys’ hits

Brian Wilson’s contributions to The Beach Boys cemented his status as one of pop music’s true innovators.

His iconic tracks like Surfin’ USA, California Girls, I Get Around, Good Vibrations, and God Only Knows are timeless classics.

Wilson’s groundbreaking approach to music, featuring intricate melodies, harmonies, and avant-garde themes, reshaped the pop landscape, moving beyond the simple boy-meets-girl narrative.

However, the burden of fame, combined with a growing reliance on drugs, constructed barriers that Wilson struggled to break free from.

Defying expectations, he re-emerged in the 2000s, thrilling long-time fans and reaching a new audience of music enthusiasts.

Brian Douglas Wilson was born on June 20, 1942, in Inglewood, California.

His strict and often abusive father urged him to hone his skills on toy instruments; by age eight, he was a skilled pianist and a regular member of a local choir.

Wilson often encouraged his younger siblings, Carl and Dennis, to join him in the complex harmonies he was already creating.

In school, he excelled in athletics, being a capable runner and a promising football quarterback.

However, it was at 19, despite being deaf in one ear, that Wilson unearthed the musical passion that would shape his destiny.

He received a tape recorder as a gift and quickly mastered the art of overdubbing, a technique that would define The Beach Boys’ signature sound.

While their parents were on holiday in Mexico, Brian stayed home with Dennis and Carl, inviting cousin Mike Love and close friend Al Jardine to practice a song they had co-written.

Utilizing the $250 their parents set aside for food, they rented musical equipment, ultimately leading to the creation of The Beach Boys with their debut song Surfin’.

The following year, after Surfin’ gained popularity, the group signed with Capitol Records, capitalizing on the surf craze that was captivating America, leading to massive chart success.

Songs like Surfin’ Safari, Surfin’ USA, Fun, Fun, Fun, I Get Around, and Help Me Rhonda captured the essence of youthful aspirations surrounding surfing, car culture, and first loves.

While the band heavily promoted the California surf lifestyle, only Dennis Wilson was genuinely passionate about the sport.

Many of their early hits, penned and arranged by Brian, showcased his introspective talents in tracks like In My Room.

As the sole US group to compete with The Beatles, The Beach Boys faced an exhausting schedule of recording, touring, and public relations, a reality that began to weigh on Wilson.

“I experience stage fright before every concert I’ve performed,” he later reflected. “It lasts about four or five minutes, an absolute living hell.”

The first sign of his deteriorating mental health occurred in 1964 when he experienced a breakdown mid-flight. At just 22, he opted out of touring to focus on songwriting and production.

Inspired by The Beatles’ Rubber Soul, Wilson created his own masterpiece, Pet Sounds.

The album, featuring the exquisite tracks God Only Knows, Wouldn’t It Be Nice, and Sloop John B, received widespread critical acclaim.

However, its artistic departure and many anguished tracks left many listeners perplexed.

In response to The Beatles’ Revolver in 1966, Wilson set out to create what he called his “teenage symphony to God.”

Yet, the resulting album, Smile, took an astounding 37 years to finish and led to Wilson’s profound mental breakdown, effectively severing his ties with The Beach Boys.

In collaboration with lyricist Van Dyke Parks and a plethora of session musicians, the original Smile featured groundbreaking tracks like Good Vibrations, Heroes and Villains, and Surf’s Up.

By this point, increasingly paranoid, Wilson had a large sandbox installed in his living room and composed the album with a piano set in the sand.

Recording sessions were famously chaotic, with a bucket of fire and musicians snacking on vegetables.

The project was met with resistance from the other Beach Boys, who deemed it overly experimental.

Most notably, Mike Love, who co-wrote many of The Beach Boys’ greatest hits, criticized Smile as an album showcasing “all of Brian’s madness.”

Disheartened by the negative feedback and grappling with his mental health, Wilson halted the project in 1967.

Though he had minimal involvement with The Beach Boys afterward, working on their 1968 single Do It Again, Wilson became a recluse, often remaining in bed, lost in thought and substance use.

In 1976, Carl and Dennis, increasingly concerned for their brother, enlisted Dr. Eugene Landy, a controversial therapist, who took residence in Wilson’s house.

Landy instituted a 24-hour monitoring system for Wilson’s drug use, aided by a team of overseers.

Initially, progress was promising; Wilson shed significant weight and began to recover from addiction.

However, after becoming both Wilson’s business associate and the executive producer of his albums, Landy was found guilty of breaching the patient-doctor relationship, leading to his departure.

Throughout the 1990s, Wilson experienced a resurgence; he remarried after his first wife, Marilyn, left him in 1978, re-entered the studio (albeit with limited success), and reconciled with his daughters Carnie and Wendy.

It was his discovery of the band The Wondermints that reignited his creative spark, inspiring him to revisit Pet Sounds and Smile.

After decades of battling personal demons, Wilson made a spectacular comeback with reimagined Beach Boys hits and the revival of the long-dormant Smile album.

Wilson premiered a significantly reworked version of Smile at London’s Royal Festival Hall in 2004, subsequently captivating audiences worldwide.

What stood out to both critics and fans was the visible joy on Wilson’s face as he performed.

The very artist who had refrained from touring at 22 due to performance anxiety had finally triumphed over his fears.

This marked a return to creative excellence, as in subsequent years, he released several records, including a rendition of Gershwin classics that topped the Billboard jazz charts.

Wilson stated: “Gershwin has deeply inspired me. The idea for That Lucky Old Sun stemmed from Rhapsody in Blue – more of an inspiration than an influence.”

In 2012, Wilson officially reunited with remaining Beach Boys members for a tour and an album, That’s Why God Made The Radio, marking his first original contributions in over 15 years.

This reunion coincided with the release of The Smile Sessions, a comprehensive collection featuring recordings and outtakes from the legendary “lost” album, finally allowing fans to envision what the album might have been.

The compilation received rave reviews, earning a spot on Rolling Stone’s 2012 list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time, and winning the Grammy Award for best historical album in 2013.

However, the reunion was brief, and by 2014, Wilson was working on solo tracks for the next Beach Boys album, featuring guest appearances from stars like Zooey Deschanel and Kacey Musgraves.

A biographical film about his life, Love & Mercy, starring John Cusack and Paul Dano at different life stages, debuted to much acclaim that same year.

Wilson continued to tour into his late 70s, facing a personal tragedy in 2024 with the passing of his wife, Melinda, at age 77.

Shortly after, he was placed under a conservatorship, with his family stating he was “unable to adequately care for his physical health, food, clothing, or shelter.”

This development intensified his image as a fragile, almost childlike figure, yet he has motivated countless musicians to follow their dreams.

The blend of his songwriting brilliance and technical expertise in the studio establishes him as one of the pivotal figures in 20th Century popular music.