Beach Boys ‘genius’ Brian Wilson honored by fellow stars as tributes pour in following his death aged 82

Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson was hailed by his fellow stars as tributes poured in following the legendary musician’s death aged 82.

The God Only Knows hitmaker shot to fame as the frontman of the Beach Boys, for which he served as the principal songwriter as well as the co-lead vocalist.

Last year, weeks after the death of his longtime wife Melinda, it emerged that he had been diagnosed with a neurocognitive disorder similar to dementia.

When news of his passing broke Wednesday, his fans leapt to social media to share their grief, including Elton John, who shared a throwback photo of them together.

‘Brian Wilson was always so kind to me from the day I met him. He sang ‘Someone Saved My Life Tonight’ at a tribute concert in 2003, and it was an extraordinary moment for me. I played on his solo records, he sang on my album, The Union, and even performed for my AIDS Foundation,’ remembered John.

‘I grew to love him as a person, and for me, he was the biggest influence on my songwriting ever; he was a musical genius and revolutionary. He changed the goalposts when it came to writing songs and shaped music forever. A true giant.’

Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson was hailed by his fellow stars as tributes poured in following the legendary musician’s death aged 82; pictured 1968 

 

When news of his death broke Wednesday, his fans leapt to social media to share their grief, including Elton John, who shared a throwback photo of them together

‘Anyone with a musical bone in their body must be grateful for Brian Wilson’s genius magical touch !!’ wrote Fleetwood Mac legend Mick Fleetwood.

‘And greatly saddened of this major worldly loss!! My thoughts go out to his family and friends Mick Fleetwood and the Fleetwood Mac Family.’

Fleetwood was just one of a number of boldface names to fondly remember Wilson, including Sean Ono Lennon, the son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono.

‘Anyone who really knows me knows how heart broken I am about Brian Wilson passing. Not many people influenced me as much as he did,’ wrote Lennon. 

‘I feel very lucky that I was able to meet him and spend some time with him. He was always very kind and generous. He was our American Mozart. A one of a kind genius from another world,’ he added.

Meanwhile Julian Lennon, John Lennon’s son by his first wife Cynthia, wrote: ‘R.I.P,’ adding that he was ‘Thankful….’ 

Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones added his voice to the choir, tweeting: ‘Oh no Brian Wilson and Sly Stone in one week ~ my world is in mourning so sad xx.’

‘Rest in Peace, Brian Wilson!’ wrote Keith Richards, sharing a passage of his memoir in which he gave an unfiltered appraisal of Wilson’s work.

‘Rest in Peace, Brian Wilson!’ wrote Keith Richards, sharing a passage of his memoir in which he gave an unfiltered appraisal of Wilson’s work

‘Anyone with a musical bone in their body must be grateful for Brian Wilson’s genius magical touch !!’ wrote Fleetwood Mac legend Mick Fleetwood

‘Oh gee…We say goodbye to Brian Wilson,’ wrote Randy Bachman: ‘I’ve know the Beach boys since the mid 60’s and have done lots of shows with them’

News of his death prompted an outpouring of grief from his fans, including Sean Ono Lennon, the son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono

Meanwhile Julian Lennon, John Lennon’s son by his first wife Cynthia, wrote: ‘R.I.P,’ adding that he was ‘Thankful….’

Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones added his voice to the choir, tweeting: ‘Oh no Brian Wilson and Sly Stone in one week ~ my world is in mourning so sad xx’

‘The Beach Boys set the stage for pop vocal groups,’ began a post on the official X, formerly Twitter, account of the Backstreet Boys

‘Brian Wilson was a musical and spiritual giant,’ wrote Micky Dolenz of the Monkees fame: ‘His melodies shaped generations, & his soul resonated in every note’

The God Only Knows hitmaker shot to fame as the frontman of the Beach Boys, for which he served as the principal songwriter as well as the co-lead vocalist; pictured 2020 in Miami

‘When we first got to America and to LA, there was a lot of Beach Boys on the radio, which was pretty funny to us – it was before Pet Sounds – it was hot rod songs and surfing songs, pretty lousily played, familiar Chuck Berry licks going on,’ he wrote. 

‘“Round, round get around / I get around,” I thought that was brilliant. It was latter on, listening to Pet Sounds, well, it’s all a little bit overproduced for me, but Brian Wilson had something. “In My Room,” “Don’t Worry Baby,”‘ he opined. 

‘I was more interested in their B-sides, the ones he slipped in. There was no particular correlation to what we were doing so I could just listen to it on another level. I thought these are very well-constructed songs.’

‘Oh gee…We say goodbye to Brian Wilson,’ wrote Randy Bachman.  ‘I’ve know the Beach boys since the mid 60’s and have done lots of shows with them. They were the American answer to the Beatles. They wowed everyone with the songs, structures, vocals harmonies. The sunshine sound.’

Bachman continued: ‘I remember when Brian decided to not go on the road anymore but continued to write incredible music. They were like family.’

Referring to Wilson’s brother, another member of the Beach Boys, he added: ‘When Carl passed it was like losing a brother and it feels the same today. They are still going today with their incredible legacy with Bruce Johnston and Mike Love.’

Of Brian Wilson, Bachman wrote: ‘We lost one of the greatest composers and messengers who took jazz harmony, put it to a Chuck Berry beat and made a new genre of music. Some of the best singles in the world.’

Bachman noted that the three Wilson brothers ‘Dennis, Carl and Brian are all together now. Other worlds to sing in. #RIP #BrianWilson #TheBeachBoys.’

Wilson formed the Beach Boys in 1961 with his brothers Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love and their friend Al Jardine 

‘The Beach Boys set the stage for pop vocal groups,’ began a post on the official X, formerly Twitter, account of the Backstreet Boys.

‘The tight harmonies, infectious melodies and unmatched songwriting of Brian Wilson gave groups like us a blueprint for success and a legacy to aspire to. Our hearts go out to the family of Brian Wilson on this tragic day. Music has lost a pioneer and the world has lost a true legend.’

‘Brian Wilson was a musical and spiritual giant,’ wrote Micky Dolenz of the Monkees fame. ‘His melodies shaped generations, & his soul resonated in every note. I was fortunate to know him; we all were blessed by his genius. Rest peacefully, Brian.’

Wilson’s survivors include his daughters Carnie, 57, and Wendy, 55, whom he had with his first wife Marilyn, as well as the five children he adopted with Melinda, who are called Dakota Rose, Daria Rose, Delanie Rose, Dylan and Dash.

His children announced Wilson’s death on the singer’s official Instagram page this Wednesday, alongside what appeared to be a recent photo.

‘We are heartbroken to announce that our beloved father Brian Wilson has passed away. We are at a loss for words right now,’ they wrote.

‘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.’

Wilson formed the Beach Boys in 1961 with his brothers Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love and their friend Al Jardine.

The original name of the band was the Pendletones, and they exploded onto the scene with their 1961 song Surfin’, written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love.

Over the course of the 1960s the group became one of the most beloved in America, releasing albums like Surfin’ Safari, Surfin’ U.S.A. and Surfer Girl. 

Their 1966 hit God Only Knows was branded ‘the greatest song ever written’ by Beatles legend Paul McCartney. 

The last time Wilson was seen in public was last April, when he emerged looking frail in a wheelchair to attend a Los Angeles Lakers game 

The original Beach Boys are pictured in Los Angeles in 1962, with Brian Wilson in the center

Along with their pioneering musical style, the band also conjured up an intoxicating image of a carefree California lifestyle of sunshine, palm trees, blue jeans and sea air.

However Wilson’s involvement with the Beach Boys shifted dramatically when he suffered a nervous breakdown in 1964, followed by two more in the next couple of years. 

He promptly withdrew from touring but retained his backstage control of the band as a writer and producer, masterminding their 1966 magnum opus Pet Sounds and providing lead vocals on many of the tracks.

Pet Sounds struggled commercially at first, but ultimately earned a reputation as one of the most acclaimed pop or rock albums ever created.

Paul McCartney has cited Pet Sounds as a particularly profound influence on him, one that spurred him to write more experimentally for the Beatles, leading to their own seminal album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. 

‘First of all, it was Brian’s writing,’ said McCartney in 1990. ‘I love the album so much. I’ve just bought my kids each a copy of it for their education in life – I figure no one is educated musically ’til they’ve heard that album. I was into the writing and the songs.’

Wilson (second from left) is pictured with the other Beach Boys in 1964

Wilson plunged into heavy drug use during the 1960s, including LSD, and the combination of his mounting substance problem and psychological issues contributed to his increasing retreat from public life. 

One of his symptoms was paranoid delusions, and he continued hearing voices in his head during the last decades of his life. 

On the other hand, the psychedelics also served as creative fuel, with Wilson reportedly composing the music for one of the Beach Boys’ most enduring singles, the 1966 release Good Vibrations, while tripping on LSD.

Pet Sounds, with its groundbreaking songs like God Only Knows and I Know There’s An Answer, was also influenced by his experience with mind-altering substances. 

By the mid-1970s, his drug use had expanded to include heroin and he became a recluse as his first marriage to singer Marilyn Rovell gradually crumbled.

With the help of therapy, however, he returned to the spotlight in 1976, touring with the Beach Boys again as the band’s slogan trumpeted: ‘Brian’s Back!’

He slipped in and out of overeating and drugs, with repeated stints out of the public eye punctuated by triumphant comebacks. 

Melinda, his second and final wife, married Wilson in 1995, and he credited her as his ‘savior’ in his devastated statement on her death last year; the couple are pictured in 1995

His children announced Wilson’s death on the singer’s official Instagram page this Wednesday, along with what appeared to be a recent photo

By the 1990s, he was locked in feuds with a variety of his old collaborators over a string of issues including unpaid royalties and alleged defamation of them in his memoirs, which also prompted a lawsuit from his own mother.

He had begun embarking on a solo career in the 1980s, and continued through the 1990s amid his widening estrangement from the other Beach Boys. 

However, by 2006, he and Al Jardine toured jointly for the 40th anniversary of Pet Sounds and by 2012, the latest iteration of the Beach Boys – now including Wilson again – was back together for a 50th anniversary reunion tour. 

That year, the Beach Boys also released their final studio album, That’s Why God Made the Radio, which Wilson produced to galloping commercial success. 

The Beach Boys are pictured in 1964

The Beach Boys are pictured in 1964

Melinda, his second and final wife, married Wilson in 1995, and he credited her as his ‘savior’ in his devastated statement on her death last year.

The couple gave a joint interview a decade ago in which Wilson confessed that he was still plagued by auditory hallucinations.

‘I have voices in my head,’ he explained to Salon alongside his wife in 2015. ‘Mostly it’s derogatory. Some of it’s cheerful. Most of it isn’t.’ 

Last February, shortly after Melinda’s death, Wilson’s family filed to obtain a conservatorship of him, announcing his diagnosis with a dementia-like condition. 

They said he often made ‘spontaneous irrelevant or incoherent utterances,’ had a ‘very short attention span and while unintentionally disruptive, is frequently unable to maintain decorum appropriate to the situation,’ in documents obtained by The Blast.

Melinda, the family argued, had been attending to Wilson’s ‘daily living needs’ and her absence had left him ‘unable to properly provide for his own personal needs for physical health, food, clothing, or shelter.’ 

The last time Wilson was seen in public was April 2024, when he emerged looking frail in a wheelchair to attend a Los Angeles Lakers game.