Looking Back On Music Icon and Beach Boys Founder Brian Wilson’s Life
The music world lost one of its most enigmatic and influential figures on June 11, 2025, when Brian Wilson passed away at the age of 82.
Wilson’s long and varied career saw him emerge as a founding member of the Beach Boys, eventually taking on more eclectic and challenging musical projects, to a decades-long struggle with mental health issues. Let’s take a look at the life of a titan of the music industry.
His Musical Gifts Were On Display Early On
Wilson, who was born in 1942 in Hawthorne, California, displayed exceptional musical talent from a young age. In his youth, he learned how to play piano by ear and absorbed the popular songs of the day.
It’s no coincidence that Wilson and the Beach Boys became synonymous with complex vocal harmonies, because Wilson grew up listening to doo-wop and R&B music of the 1950s, which often featured layered harmonizing.
In 1961, the Beach Boys Were Founded
Wilson, along with his brothers Carl and Dennis, cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine, formed the Beach Boys in 1961, and the group immediately found modest local success with their debut single, “Surfin’.”
He quickly became known as the group’s creative leader, as he wrote and produced most of their material. Soon, they’d find even greater success with iconic hits like “Surfin’ USA,” “Fun, Fun, Fun,” and “I Get Around.”
The Beach Boys Practically Defined Surf Culture
The rise of the Beach Boys coincided with the increasing popularity of surf culture, and while the group’s early material was almost entirely themed around surfing and young love, there were hints of complexity.
Right from the very first Beach Boys records, Wilson’s penchant for vocal harmonies is immediately evident. By 1964, the group put a pause on their breakneck touring schedule to allow them to return to studio work.
Wilson’s Songwriting Became More Ambitious
It would be easy to dismiss the Beach Boys as a gimmicky band that only wrote energetic songs about surfing, but that would all change with the release of the 1966 album Pet Sounds.
The album, written during Wilson’s retreat to the studio that began in 1964, featured lush orchestral arrangements — a far cry from the surf pop that had defined the group up until that point. Later in 1966, Wilson began working on an even more ambitious project.
The Smile Sessions Were Difficult
Discord began to emerge within the Beach Boys during the sessions for an album that would be called Smile. Wilson’s perfectionism and increasing use of substances put strain on the band, and his mental health deteriorated during this period.
By 1967, the project was shelved and Smile became an unfinished album. Wilson became increasingly reclusive, often retreating to his bedroom for extended periods of time. Meanwhile, without their creative leader, the Beach Boys’ creative direction shifted towards simple, nostalgic songs.
Wilson Had a Rough Decade
Throughout the 1970s, Wilson retreated almost entirely from the public eye. Late in the decade, desperate for help, he sought help from controversial psychologist Dr. Eugene Landy.
Wilson was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia (a diagnosis that was later retracted), and Landy’s extreme “24-hour therapy” regime temporarily brought Wilson back into public life. However, the doctor’s methods and increasing control over Wilson’s life and finances drew scrutiny.
He Re-emerged in the Late ’80s
In 1988, Wilson released his first solo album, which was well-received, and later that year, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Beach Boys.
In the early ’90s, Landy was legally removed from Wilson’s life, and the following years brought a creative renaissance for Wilson. In 2004, fans finally got to experience Smile — or at least Wilson’s reimagined interpretation of it — when he released Brian Wilson Presents Smile.
He Remained Enigmatic
While Wilson was once more a public figure by the turn of the millennium, he was a figure who was difficult to understand.
Music journalist Geoff Edgers wrote in 2000 that “no writer will ever understand Brian Wilson,” adding that Wilson “generally makes it clear to interviewers that he would rather be somewhere else — and that’s when he’s feeling good.”
His Career Eventually Wound Down
As the 2010s wore on, an aging Wilson slowed down his output. His last studio album, At My Piano, was released in 2021.
In 2024, it was announced that Wilson was suffering from dementia after the death of his wife, Melinda Ledbetter. He was then placed in a conservatorship, with his publicist Jean Seavers and manager LeeAnn Hard handling his affairs.
He Passed Away on June 11, 2025
In a social media post from his official account, a statement from Wilson’s children read, “We are heartbroken to announce that our beloved father Brian Wilson has passed away.”
The message asked for privacy, along with an acknowlegement that “We are sharing our grief with the world.” No cause of death was given for the 82-year-old Wilson.
