Brian Wilson, leader leader, bass player, songwriter and producer of Beach Boys, died on June 11, 2025, at the age of 82. This news is not a surprise: Brian Wilson, suffering from dementia diagnosed by doctors, had been placed under guardianship in May 2024, five months after the death of his wife, Melinda. However, his disappearance nevertheless marks the end of a long and extraordinary chapter in the history of music.
A life devoted to music
Trained in the early 1960s in Hawthorne, California, the Beach Boys were initially a family and community story: the Brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love and their school friend Al Jardine. During their childhood, the Wilson House was a complicated home. Their father, Murry Wilson, was strict, sometimes violent. Music was one of the few means of family rapprochement.
It was during these first years that Brian Wilson discovered the sounds that will shape his musical identity: Gershwin, the Doo-Wop groups, the Rock ‘N’ Roll of the beginnings and, above all, the Freshmen oven, whose style of singing in tight harmony will be a major influence that he was studying carefully.
This mixture of influences is unexpected for a group of pop. From the first recordings of the Beach Boys (with surfing, cars and girls), we perceive the beginnings of the complexity and the musical audacity that will make Brian Wilson’s reputation.
Listen to the unexpected structure of “Lonely Sea” (1962), the complex agreements of “The Warmth of the Sun” (1964), or the subtle modulation of “Don’t Worry Baby” (1964). These first innovations suggest growing creativity which will continue to flourish throughout the 1960s and beyond.
A story of resilience
In the years that followed, Brian Wilson has often been perceived as a fragile figure. But what emerges above all from his career is his resilience. Difficult not to admire your ability to produce such a vast and varied catalog of works, while facing, among other things, complex family relationships, the pressure of record companies, mental health problems often poorly diagnosed and poorly treated, as well as addictions. Brian Wilson not only survived all of this, but he continued to create.
Brian Wilson even did what few Beach Boys fans would have imagined: going on stage. His unexpected return, during tours Pet Sounds And Smile In the early 2000s, the interest in Beach Boys raised interest and enabled a critical reassessment of their musical heritage. Since then, publications of books, documentaries, films and podcasts devoted to Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys have multiplied.
The subject of a thesis
I grew up near Surfers Paradise, on the Gold Coast (Queensland, Australia). Their first songs evoking an endless summer resonated particularly in my hometown, even if, just like Brian Wilson, I only admired the beach from afar. I chose to study the music of the Beach Boys for my doctoral thesis (PDF) and I spent the following years retracing the musical development of the group, from their beginnings in a garage to the creation of Pet Sounds Five years later (1966).
I was fascinated by the way in which a group could produce such an innovative corpus in such a short time, going from the first hesitant notes of “Surfin ‘” (1962) to the complex arrangements of “God Only Knows” (1966).
To understand their music, I listened for years to the recording sessions of Beach Boys, taken after taking, in order to grasp how their songs were designed with so much finesse and ingenuity.
But what struck me as strongly as the music itself was Brian Wilson’s voice in these recordings. Listening to him directing hours of sessions was hearing an artist at the top of his art: decisive, sure of himself, funny, a collaborative spirit, animated by a deep desire to give life to the magic music he heard in his head and to share it with the public.
One of the most unexpected discoveries of my analysis of the words of the Beach Boys came from a simple tool for the frequency of words applied to the 117 songs of the corpus: the most common word was “Now” (“NOW”).
Often used as a language ICT, now However, summarizes what the music of Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys offered to so many listeners. Brian Wilson has created an eternal present: a world where the sun is still shining, where you can stay young forever and where you can return each time you feel the need.
In 2010, I had the immense chance of meeting Brian Wilson in his lodge, before his concert at the Sydney Embmore Theater. He was funny and warm. Sitting a small keyboard, he taught me a harmony and, for a moment, we sang “Love and Mercy” (1988) together.
It was one of the most magical moments of my life. And one of Brian Wilson’s most durable messages: “Love and Mercy, That’s What We Need Tonight.” (“Love and compassion, that’s what we need this evening.”)
Goodbye and thank you, Brian. Surf’s up!
