It is a great name in music that disappeared on June 11. Brian Wilson, iconic leader of the Beach Boys, passed away at the age of 82, leaving behind an inspiring musical career.
Born in June 1942 in Inglewood, California, Brian Wilson grew up in a family where music holds a large place, but also marked by an authoritarian and very hard father. Very young, he reveals early talents for singing and composition. It’s a miracle for him who is deaf in the right ear after his father violently threw him against a wall. Despite this infirmity, he possesses a sizeable asset: perfect pitch.
The Beach Boys: an almost immediate success
In 1961, with his brothers Carl and Dennis, his cousin Mike Love and a friend, Al Jardine, he founded the Beach Boys and became its main composer, arranger and producer. The group quickly embodies the Californian dream, tackling joyful and light themes like surfing, cars and girls but carried by complex vocal harmonies. It won’t take decades for the Beach Boys to find their audience. In the years 1963/64, there were a series of hits that are still iconic today. Surfin’ USA, Fun, Fun, Fun, I Get Around, Help Me, Rhonda, California Girls… The group makes young people dance like the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan did at the time.
But the Beach Boys want to go further and aspire to more complex albums. In 1966, they unveiled Pet Sounds, a project that could not be more revolutionary with ultra-worked orchestrations and impactful harmonies. Musicians also address deeper topics, such as doubts, fragility, and loneliness. Despite a lesser success, Brian Wilson embarks on another project: Smile, supposed to be ‘a teenage symphony to God’. Although innovative, the project is aborted, notably due to the heavy atmosphere in the group, between tensions, excessive drug consumption and psychological disorders.
A chaotic and self-destructive atmosphere that will lead Brian Wilson towards depression in the late 60s and 70s. He then detaches himself from the group and begins a real descent into hell. Addiction to drugs and alcohol, obesity, isolation… The physical and mental health of the artist is at its lowest. A psychologist will help him to recover in the 70s-80s but will eventually control his life, monitoring his relationships and finances a little too closely.
The renaissance
After the release of the album The Beach Boys in 1985, Brian stopped working with the band as a bassist. His last album with the group is Stars and Stripes in partnership with country artists in 1996 where he is only a singer.
In 1988, Brian released his first solo album titled Brian Wilson. The same year, he became a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, introduced by his rival but also a big fan Paul McCartney. In the following years, the singer-songwriter released albums under his name, such as Imagination, Getting In Over My Head and That Lucky Old Sun. He also takes the opportunity to go back on stage and find his audience, both nostalgic for the Beach Boys period and an amateur of the artist’s rebirth.
Strengthened by this success and artistic renewal, the time has come to present Smile, his project finally completed in 2004, which is very well received. This will be followed by world tours, various albums and collaborations with big names in music. In 2011, Brian Wilson participates in the new mix of Smile’s compositions. Three years later, the film Love and Mercy, an opus inspired by his life and which traces the difficult period of Pet Sounds of the Beach Boys, is released in theaters. In 2024, he is placed der supervision, suffering from dementia, before dying at 82 years old in June 2025.
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Brian Wilson leaves behind a rich musical career, witnessing the pomp and excesses of a hippie/rock era. Having collaborated with Paul McCartney, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Mark Ronson and Lana Del Rey, the artist is considered a pioneer of the concept of studio albums as works of art. Master of vocal harmonies and sound textures, Brian Wilson continues today to inspire the musical universe.
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Featured photo : © Beach Boys
