Brian Douglas Wilson (June 20, 1942 – June 11, 2025) was an American musician, songwriter, singer, and record producer who co-founded the Beach Boys.

Often called a genius for his novel approaches to pop composition and mastery of recording techniques, he is widely acknowledged as one of the most innovative and significant songwriters of the 20th century. His best-known work is distinguished for its high production values, complex harmonies and orchestrations, vocal layering, and introspective or ingenuous themes. Wilson was also known for his versatile vocal range. He faced lifelong struggles with mental illness.

Wilson's formative influences included George Gershwin, the Four Freshmen, Phil Spector, and Burt Bacharach. In 1961, he began his professional career as a member of the Beach Boys, serving as the band's songwriter, producer, co-lead vocalist, bassist, keyboardist, and de facto leader. After signing with Capitol Records in 1962, he became the first pop musician credited for writing, arranging, producing, and performing his own material. He also produced acts such as the Honeys and American Spring. By the mid-1960s he had written or co-written more than two dozen U.S. Top 40 hits, including the number-ones "Surf City" (1963), "I Get Around" (1964), "Help Me, Rhonda" (1965), and "Good Vibrations" (1966). He is considered among the first music producer auteurs and the first rock producers to apply the studio as an instrument.

In 1964, Wilson had a nervous breakdown and resigned from regular concert touring to focus on songwriting and production. This led to works such as the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds and his first credited solo release, "Caroline, No" (both 1966), as well as the unfinished album Smile. By the late 1960s, his productivity and mental health had significantly declined, leading to periods marked by reclusion, overeating, and substance abuse. His first professional comeback yielded the almost solo effort The Beach Boys Love You (1977). In the 1980s, he formed a controversial creative and business partnership with his psychologist, Eugene Landy, and relaunched his solo career with the self-titled album Brian Wilson (1988). Wilson disassociated from Landy in 1991 and toured regularly as a solo artist from 1999 to 2022, three years before his death in 2025.

Heralding popular music's recognition as an art form, Wilson's accomplishments as a producer helped initiate an era of unprecedented creative autonomy for label-signed acts. He is regarded as an important figure to many music genres and movements, including the California sound, art pop, psychedelia, chamber pop, progressive music, punk, outsider, and sunshine pop. Since the 1980s, his influence has extended to styles such as post-punk, indie rock, emo, dream pop, Shibuya-kei, and chillwave. He received numerous industry awards including two Grammy Awards and Kennedy Center Honors as well as nominations for a Golden Globe Award and Primetime Emmy Award. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 and the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2000. His life and career were dramatized in the 2014 biopic Love and Mercy.

Spouses

• Marilyn Rovell (m. 1964; div. 1979)​
• Melinda Ledbetter (m. 1995; died 2024)​

Children
Carnie, Wendy, and 5 adopted

Father Murry Wilson

Relatives

• Dennis Wilson (brother)
• Carl Wilson (brother)
• Mike Love (cousin)
• Stan Love (cousin)

1942–1961: Background and musical training

Childhood

Brian Douglas Wilson was born on June 20, 1942, at Centinela Hospital Medical Center in Inglewood, California, the first child of Audree Neva (née Korthof) and Murry Wilson, a machinist who later pursued songwriting part-time. Wilson's two younger brothers, Dennis and Carl, were born in 1944 and 1946. Shortly after Dennis' birth, the family moved from Inglewood to 3701 West 119th Street in nearby Hawthorne, California. Wilson, along with his siblings, suffered psychological and sporadic physical maltreatment from their father. His 2016 memoir characterizes his father as "violent" and "cruel"; however, it also suggests that certain narratives about the mistreatment had been overstated or unfounded.

I got so into The Four Freshmen. I could identify with Bob Flanigan's high voice. He taught me how to sing high. I worked for a year on The Four Freshmen with my hi-fi set. I eventually learned every song they did.

—Brian Wilson, 1998

From an early age, Wilson exhibited an aptitude for learning by ear. His father remembered how, after hearing only a few verses of "When the Caissons Go Rolling Along", the infant Wilson was able to reproduce its melody. Murry was a driving force in cultivating his children's musical talents. Wilson undertook six weeks of accordion lessons, and by ages seven and eight, he performed choir solos at church. His choir director declared him to have perfect pitch. Wilson owned an educational record titled The Instruments of the Orchestra and was a regular listener of KFWB, his favorite radio station at the time. Carl introduced him to R&B, and their uncle Charlie taught him boogie-woogie piano. Both brothers would frequently stay up listening to Johnny Otis' KFOX radio show, incorporating its R&B tracks into their musical lexicon.

One of Wilson's first forays into songwriting, penned when he was nine, was a reinterpretation of the lyrics to Stephen Foster's "Oh! Susannah". At age 12, his family acquired an upright piano, and he began teaching himself to play piano by spending hours mastering his favorite songs. He learned how to write manuscript music through a friend of his father. Wilson sang with peers at school functions, as well as with family and friends at home, and guided his two brothers in learning harmony parts, which they would rehearse together. He also played piano obsessively after school, deconstructing the harmonies of the Four Freshmen by listening to short segments of their songs on a phonograph, then working to recreate the blended sounds note by note on the keyboard.

High school and college

In high school, Wilson played quarterback for Hawthorne High's football team, played American Legion Baseball, and ran cross-country in his senior year. At 15, he briefly worked part-time sweeping at a jewelry store, his only paid employment before his success in music. He also cleaned for his father's machining company, ABLE, on weekends. Wilson auditioned to sing for the Original Sound Record Company's inaugural record release, but was deemed too young. For his 16th birthday, he received a portable two-track Wollensak tape recorder, allowing him to experiment with recording songs, group vocals, and rudimentary production techniques. Wilson involved his friends around the piano and would most frequently harmonize with those from his senior class in these recordings.

For his Senior Problems course in October 1959, Wilson submitted an essay, "My Philosophy", in which he stated that his ambitions were to "make a name for myself [...] in music". One of Wilson's earliest public performances was at a fall arts program at his high school. He enlisted his cousin and frequent singing partner Mike Love and, to entice Carl into the group, named the newly formed membership "Carl and the Passions". They performed songs by Dion and the Belmonts and the Four Freshmen, impressing classmate and musician, Al Jardine. Fred Morgan, Wilson's high school music teacher, recalled his aptitude for learning Bach and Beethoven at 17.

In September 1960, Wilson enrolled as a psychology major at El Camino College in Los Angeles, also pursuing music. Disappointed by his teachers' disdain for pop music, he withdrew from college after about 18 months. By his account, he crafted his first entirely original melody, "Surfer Girl", in 1961, inspired by a Dion and the Belmonts rendition of "When You Wish Upon a Star". However, his close high school friends disputed his claim, recalling earlier original compositions.

Formation of the Beach Boys

I wasn't aware those early songs defined California so well until much later in my career. I certainly didn't set out to do it. I wasn't into surfing at all. My brother Dennis gave me all the jargon I needed to write the songs. He was the surfer and I was the songwriter.

—Brian Wilson

The three Wilson brothers, Love, and Jardine debuted their first music group together, called "the Pendletones", in the autumn of 1961. At Dennis's suggestion, Brian and Love co-wrote the group's first song, "Surfin'". Murry became their manager.

Produced by Hite and Dorinda Morgan on Candix Records, "Surfin'" became a hit in Los Angeles and reached 75 on the national Billboard sales charts. However, the group's name was changed by Candix Records to the Beach Boys. Their major live debut was at the Ritchie Valens Memorial Dance on New Year's Eve, 1961. Just days earlier, Wilson had received an electric bass from his father and quickly learned to play, prompting Jardine to switch to rhythm guitar.

When Candix Records faced financial difficulties and sold the Beach Boys' master recordings to another label, Murry ended their contract. As "Surfin'" faded from the charts, Wilson collaborated with local musician Gary Usher to produce demo recordings for new tracks, including "409" and "Surfin' Safari". Capitol Records were persuaded to release the demos as a single, achieving a double-sided national hit.

Personal life

Deafness in right ear

At age 11, during a Christmas choir recital, it was found that Wilson had significantly diminished hearing in his right ear. The issue was diagnosed as a nerve impingement. The exact cause remains unclear.

Due to this infirmity, Wilson developed a habit of speaking from the side of his mouth, giving the false impression that he had suffered a stroke. He also experienced tinnitus. In the late 1960s, he underwent corrective surgery that was unsuccessful in restoring his hearing.

Relationships and children

Wilson's first serious relationship was with Judy Bowles, a high school student he had met at a baseball game in mid-1961. The couple were engaged during Christmas 1963 and were to be married the following December. She inspired his songs "Judy" (1962), "Surfer Girl" (1963), and, according to some accounts, "The Warmth of the Sun" (1964), the latter being written shortly after they had separated. Around then, he had gradually become romantically involved with singer Marilyn Rovell, whom he had met in August 1962. Inspired by a remark from Marilyn's older sister Diane, Wilson wrote "Don't Hurt My Little Sister" (1965) about his early relationship with Marilyn.

Wilson and Marilyn were married in December 1964. They had two daughters, Carnie and Wendy (born 1968 and 1969, respectively), who later had musical success as two-thirds of the group Wilson Phillips. His daughters inspired his songs "Roller Skating Child" (1977) and "Little Children" (1988).

Much of the lyrical content from Pet Sounds reflected early marital strains that later intensified. Wilson later described himself as a neglectful father and husband during his first marriage. He had encouraged his wife to pursue extramarital affairs, including one with songwriter Tandyn Almer, while he engaged in an affair with her sister, the subject of his song "My Diane" (1978). Concurrently, Wilson maintained an affair with Debbie Keil, who inspired his song "The Night Was So Young" (1977).

In July 1978, Wilson and Marilyn separated, and he filed for divorce in January 1979. Marilyn received custody of their children and a half share of Wilson's songwriting royalties. Wilson continued his relationship with Keil until 1981. After the separation, Wilson dated one of his nurses, Carolyn Williams, until January 1983. Singer Linda Ronstadt, in her 2013 memoir Simple Dreams, implied that she had briefly dated Wilson in the 1970s.

Wilson initially dated Melinda Kae Ledbetter from 1986 to late 1989. Ledbetter attributed the premature end of their relationship to interference by Landy. After 1991, he and Ledbetter reconnected and married on February 6, 1995, Ledbetter became Wilson's manager. They adopted five children. By 2012, Wilson had six grandchildren, two daughters of Carnie and four sons of Wendy. Ledbetter died on January 30, 2024. In his social media, Wilson declared she "was my savior. She gave me the emotional security I needed to have a career. She encouraged me to make the music that was closer to my heart".

Spirituality

Wilson was raised in a Presbyterian family. In many interviews, he emphasized the spiritual essence of his music, particularly with Pet Sounds. He was also intrigued by astrology, numerology, and the occult, as reflected in his original concepts for Smile. In 1966, Wilson expressed his belief that all music "starts with religion", and while he recognized a "higher being who is better than we are", he was not traditionally religious.

In the late 1960s, Wilson and his bandmates promoted Transcendental Meditation (TM). 

By 1968, he had equated religion and meditation, though he ultimately abandoned TM. He described himself in 1976 as having over-diversified his readings, maintaining then that he still believed that the coming of "the great Messiah [...] came in the form of drugs" while acknowledging that his own drug experiences "really didn't work out so well".

In 2011, he said that while he had spiritual beliefs, he did not follow any particular religion. Asked in 2004 for his favorite book, Wilson answered "the Bible", and questioned if he believed in life after death, Wilson replied "I don't".

Interviews

He is an artist wrapped densely in myth and enigma who, in person, in interview, creates as many questions as he answers. Is this guy crazy, or is he crazy like a fox? Missing a synapse or just as sensitive as a raw nerve ending? Startlingly honest or putting you on? Childishly naïve or a master manipulator?

—Journalist Verlyn Klinkenborg, 1988

Wilson admitted to having a poor memory and occasionally lying in interviews to "test" people. In later years, many writers found Wilson challenging to interview, as his responses were usually curt or lacking in substance. Edgers wrote in 2000 that "no writer will ever understand Brian Wilson", highlighting his often "clipped and conflicting" responses, adding that he "generally makes it clear to interviewers that he would rather be somewhere else – and that's when he's feeling good." Salon's Peter Gilstrap wrote in 2015 that Wilson had been known to end interviews abruptly.

Death and tributes

Wilson died on June 11, 2025, at the age of 82. His family did not provide any further details, including a cause of death. Actor John Cusack, who portrayed Wilson in the 2014 biopic Love and Mercy, wrote, "The maestro has passed – the man was a [sic] open heart with two legs – with an ear that heard the angels. Quite literally. Love and Mercy for you and yours tonight." Elton John honored Wilson by citing him as one of his "biggest influences" and described him as being a "musical genius" and "revolutionary". Paul McCartney posted in part, "How we will continue without Brian Wilson, God Only Knows". His Beach Boys bandmates Mike Love, Al Jardine and Blondie Chaplin also paid tribute to Wilson.

Other musicians and artists who paid tribute to Wilson included Ringo Starr, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Carole King, Keith Richards, Mick Fleetwood, Ronnie Wood, Maggie Rogers, Gracie Abrams, Clairo, Nancy Sinatra, Julian Lennon, Sean Ono Lennon, Diane Warren, John Cale, Stephen Bishop, Questlove and Cameron Crowe.