Brian Wilson, Soul of the Beach Boys, Dies

Brian Wilson, the melancholic and eternally youthful brain and heart of the pop group The Beach Boys, passed away this Wednesday at the age of 82, as announced by his children on social media. "It pains us to announce the passing of our beloved father, Brian Wilson. We are at a loss for words. Please respect our privacy during this time of mourning. We share our grief with the world. With love." Born in 1942 in Inglewood, California, Wilson burst onto the music scene during the turbulent era of American youth rebellion, amidst a shift in trends marked by hippies and 'mods', college students, and beach boys as a counterbalance. Wilson created a sound that would represent the latter. With a surfer image, although none of the group members practiced the sport, The Beach Boys achieved an original sound with the formula to become bestsellers. From 'Surfing', their first big song, to 'Kokomo' in the eighties, which was the soundtrack of that same romantic and youthful spirit in the movie 'Cocktail', starring Tom Cruise and Elisabeth Shue.

Their songs 'California Girls', 'Good Vibrations', 'Help Me, Rhonda', 'Wouldn't It Be Nice', 'California Dreams', 'Fun, Fun, Fun', and 'Barbara Ann', spread across albums like 'All Summer Long' (1964), 'Pet Sounds' (1966), and 'Smiley Smile' (1967), have stood the test of time and also remain strong on platforms, with about 12 million monthly listeners on Spotify.

His musical accomplices were his two brothers Carl and Dennis, and his cousin Mike Love, also influenced by the currents of rock and roll, pop, and the harmonic play of gospel, which they assimilated into complex vocal arrangements. Although deaf in one ear, Wilson composed, played the piano and keyboards, and produced the tracks, with detail and technology, as a complete musician who, however, stopped touring to focus on studio work, just when the group was most in demand.

From there emerged surf-pop genre staples like 'Surfin'', 'Surfin' Safari', 'Surfer Girl', and 'Surfin' USA', perhaps the most played on the radios of the time. They also mastered ballads, which ended up being the beach bonfire finale, with songs like 'God Only Knows'.

In just a few years, The Beach Boys released 15 albums, one of them, 'Pet Sounds', intended as a rock opera, as other psychedelic rock bands were doing, always with Wilson in total control of the sound. The consumption of LSD along with the work pace led to mental health issues, as he himself acknowledged, and he spent periods in psychiatric hospitals for schizophrenia and depression. During these times, the band continued, with contributions from other members, but the decline was approaching.

In 1976, Wilson briefly returned to the group, which released '15 Big Ones'. Following the accidental death of Dennis, he definitively left the group and in 1988 produced his first solo album, named after him, 'Brian Wilson'. As a solo artist, he performed in Spain, on stages in the Basque Country and Catalonia, among others.

His family life was exposed, at least his version, in memoirs, where he declared himself a victim of child abuse, which led to a defamation lawsuit from his mother, his brother, and his cousin.

The Beach Boys reunited in 2011 and 2016. They went on tour, released 'That's Why God Made the Radio', and celebrated 50 years of their most accomplished album, 'Pet Sounds'. Wilson leaves behind seven children from two marriages, and his story in several biopics.