Brian Wilson, the legendary frontman and co-founder of The Seaside Boys, has died on the age of 82, his household has introduced.
“We are heartbroken to announce that our beloved father Brian Wilson has passed away,” his household stated in an announcement shared on-line. “We are at a loss for words right now.
“Please respect our privateness presently as our household [is] grieving. We realise that we’re sharing our grief with the world.”
Born in 1942 and raised in Hawthorne, California, Wilson formed a group with his younger brothers Carl and Dennis, cousin Mike Love and friend Al Jardine.
They went on to become one of the country’s biggest rock bands, The Beach Boys.
One of the most commercially successful bands of all time, they have sold more than 100 million records globally, according to the group’s website.
Music magazine Rolling Stone ranked them at 12 on its list of the “100 Best Artists of All Time”.
Wilson churned out dozens of hit singles, including the three number one songs I Get Around, Help Me, Rhonda and Good Vibrations.
He was known for using the recording studio to create unique sounds, especially on the album Pet Sounds, which contributed to his reputation as a music pioneer.
Tributes have been pouring in for the beloved musician.
Frank Sinatra’s daughter, Nancy Sinatra, who enjoyed a high-profile music career around the time of The Beach Boys’ heyday, shared a picture with Brian Wilson on Instagram.
“His cherished music will stay endlessly as he travels by the Universe and past,” she wrote. “God bless you, candy Brian.”
Mick Fleetwood, of the band Fleetwood Mac, wrote: “Anybody with a musical bone of their physique should be thankful for Brian Wilson’s genius magical contact !! And enormously saddened of this main worldly loss!!”
Sean Ono Lennon, son of Beatles frontman John Lennon and Yoko Ono, called Wilson the “American Mozart” and a “one in every of a form genius from one other world”.
“Anybody who actually is aware of me is aware of how heartbroken I’m about Brian Wilson passing,” he wrote on X.
“Not many individuals influenced me as a lot as he did. I really feel very fortunate that I used to be in a position to meet him and spend a while with him. He was all the time very variety and beneficiant.”
Elton John known as him a “true big”, while Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood said his “world is in mourning”, as he noted that Sly Stone and Wilson both died this week.
Universal Music Group’s chief executive Sir Lucian Grainge called Wilson “one of the crucial gifted singer-songwriters within the historical past of recorded music”.
“If there was a human being who made artwork out of inexpressible unhappiness it was Brian Wilson,” the musician Questlove wrote in a long tribute on Instagram.
Micky Dolenz, the last surviving member of the band the Monkees, wrote of Wilson’s passing “his melodies formed a era, his harmonies modified the sport, and his soul got here by in each word”.
In a post on X, American singer-songwriter Tom Petty compared Wilson to Beethoven, writing “I do not suppose there’s something higher than that.”
Wilson lost his wife Melinda in 2024. The couple had been married for 24 years, and adopted their children Dakota Rose, Daria Rose, Delanie Rose, Dylan and Dash together.
Wilson also had two daughters, Carnie and Wendy, from his first marriage.
The musician was diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic in 1984, according to Forbes, when doctors found evidence that his use of psychedelic drugs had potentially damaged his brain.
In February 2024 it was revealed he had dementia.
