R.I.P. Brian Wilson: Founding member of the Beach Boys and music pioneer
The rock and roll legend was 82.

MeTV is saddened to report that Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys died, as reported on his official Instagram account on Wednesday, June 11th, 2025. His children used the artist's social media account to share the sad news:
"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"
Born June 20, 1942, in Inglewood, California, Wilson would grow to redefine that state's cultural impact for the entire second half of the 20th century. His was the sound Americans would forever associate with California, as he ushered the Beach Boys to the top of the charts with indelible songs like "California Girls", "Surfin' U.S.A.", and "Help Me Rhonda."
A musical prodigy, Wilson first began composing music on an upright piano at age 12. He was a self-taught pianist and practiced obsessively all throughout school, closely examining the structure and chord changes in his favorite songs. Before graduating, Wilson had already mastered many of his classical music forebears, easily replicating the works of Bach and Beethoven before he was legally an adult.
"Surfer Girl," Wilson's first entirely original melody, was crafted in 1961. Wilson employed his brothers Dennis and Carl, as well as their cousin Mike Love, to perform his original music as well as covers of famous songs as The Pendletones. Soon, friend Al Jardine rounded out the lineup with his rhythm guitar and harmonious vocals. The group's songs were promising enough that they were signed to Candix Records, who changed the band's name to The Beach Boys. Demo recordings of later-famous tracks like "409" and "Surfin' Safari" followed.
As the Beach Boys conquered the nation throughout the early '60s, their success was only rivaled by the impending British invasion. By February of 1964, Beatlemania was sweeping the States, and Wilson's compositional supremacy was threatened.
"The Beatles invasion shook me up a lot. [...] So we stepped on the gas a little bit."
-Brian Wilson, 1966
Luckily, Wilson had a few tricks up his sleeve and rose to the occasion of the would-be rivalry with new singles "I Get Around" and its B-side, "Don't Worry Baby", both of which are still considered some of his best work.
As the pressure of competition built, Wilson retreated from the public eye and into the studio, where he would innovate ceaselessly for the remainder of his career with the Beach Boys. He was inspired by and jealous of Paul McCartney's compositional prowess and the studio wizardry found on Beatles records. The resulting push to invent new ways of recording elevated the art form with the 1966 release of the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, an album that still hasn't been bested in terms of gorgeous, baroque orchestrations and "How'd they pull that off?" studio magic.
The mounting success and the pressure that came with it adversely affected Wilson's mental health. Stories of rooms filled with sand and hermit-like introversion eclipsed later recordings, and the Beach Boys were forced to soldier on without their leader. When his father died in 1973, Brian Wilson entered a state of intense seclusion, retreating away from the limelight and into substance misuse. The period was followed by intermittent resurgences with the Beach Boys, as well as frequent health scares as he worked hard to overcome his harmful behavior.
The late '80s and into the '90s saw a career resurgence, as the Beach Boys scored their first #1 hit in years with "Kokomo", which also served as their first big hit without Wilson's involvement. However, after releasing a memoir and being entered into and then escaping from a conservatorship, Wilson was back to touring and recording in a time of relative peace and health.
The subsequent reunions saw Wilson able to shower in the praise of a new generation of fans, as his band once again recaptured the zeitgeist, and played big festivals like Bonnaroo and Live 8 Berlin. All the while, Wilson never rested on his legacy, and instead constantly retooled old recordings for releases like the Pet Sounds 50th Anniversary and the storied Smile Sessions.
Anybody who was fortunate enough to see the Beach Boys live knows what it's like to dance in the presence of musical legends, regardless of which version of the band was playing. However, Brian Wilson was the critical key to the band's success. While the Beach Boys will probably continue to tour without him, it is important to remember that Wilson wasn't just the most important Beach Boy, but he may have very well been the most important artist in American music history during the latter half of the 20th century.





















