From the Hollywood Reporter: Brian Wilson, Heart and Soul of The Beach Boys, Dies at 82
Brian Wilson, whose “teenage symphonies to God” made him the poet laureate of adolescent heartbreak as a founding member of The Beach Boys, has died. He was 82.
Wilson’s family confirmed his death on social media on Wednesday.
“We are heartbroken to announce that our beloved father Brian Wilson has passed away. We are at a loss for words right now,” his family wrote in an Instagram post. “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.”
Wilson, who started the band in Hawthorne, California, with brothers Carl and Dennis, cousin Mike Love and schoolmate Al Jardine, wrote such timeless classics as “Surfin’ U.S.A.,” “In My Room,” “God Only Knows,” “Caroline, No,” “California Girls,” “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” and “Good Vibrations. “He was the mastermind behind Pet Sounds, regarded as one of the greatest albums of the ‘60s rock era, and an acknowledged influence by Paul McCartney himself on The Beatles magnum opus, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Wilson demonstrated an uncanny gift for harmonic invention and complex vocal and instrumental arrangements. “A lot of love went into our singing, our harmonies, the making of those records,” he said in 2003.
Born on June 20, 1942, at Centinela Hospital in Inglewood, Brian Douglas Wilson was the eldest of three boys of Audree Neva and frustrated songwriter Murry Wilson. The family moved to nearby Hawthorne when he was two.
Wilson was a child prodigy, who had an epiphany hearing George Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” as a toddler. Just a few years later, it was discovered he had a hearing loss in his right ear, a condition that has often been ascribed to Murry dealing him a blow to the head, though this was never confirmed. When he was just nine, Brian sang a song, “The Old Soldier,” written by his cousin Mike Love, then 10, at a family gathering.