Latest news with #DennisWilson
Forbes
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Forbes
The Beach Boys Chart A New Hit Following Brian Wilson's Passing
The Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations" debuts on one U.K. chart more than half a century after its ... More release following Brian Wilson's passing. Clockwise from left, the Beach Boys are Al Jardine, Mike Love, Brian Wilson, Dennis Wilson, and Carl Wilson. Brian Wilson, the genius musician behind The Beach Boys and one of the most celebrated singers and songwriters of all time, passed away on June 11 at the age of 82. Millions of people around the world immediately rushed to honor his legacy by returning to the Beach Boys' classics, which helped define a generation's sound and changed pop music forever. In the wake of Wilson's death, the group scores a new hit in the United Kingdom with a track that originally took over the airwaves more than half a century ago, as 'Good Vibrations' has become a bestseller once again. 'Good Vibrations' appears on a pair of rankings in the U.K. this week. The track debuts on the Official Singles Sales chart, and this frame marks its first appearance on the country's list of the top-selling tunes. The cut opens at No. 55 on the Official Singles Sales chart this frame. Of course, that tally didn't exist when 'Good Vibrations' was first released, and the track required a special set of circumstances to reach this roster. As 'Good Vibrations' debuts, The Beach Boys collect only a third hit on the Official Singles Sales chart. The group first appeared on the list in 2014 with 'God Only Knows,' which remains its top-performing cut on that tally. It's thus far the only release by the band to spend more than one week on the ranking, and it has peaked at No. 23. The Beach Boys scored a second win in 2020 with 'Kokomo.' 'Good Vibrations' now marks the group's third placement and its second-highest-rising title so far — though that number may change in a few days once a full tracking period has passed following the sad news. 'Good Vibrations' also returns to the Official Singles Downloads chart as it debuts on the all-encompassing sales roster. The track had previously spent just one week at No. 22, and now it doubles its total number of appearances on that list by breaking back in at No. 52. 'Good Vibrations' joins only 'God Only Knows' as one of two Beach Boys hits that fans immediately selected as their favorites — the ones they wanted to revisit after Wilson's death. Several collections, such as Sounds of Summer and Pet Sounds, also return, and the group's chart takeover may be even more impressive when the rankings are refreshed.
New York Times
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Like His Music, Brian Wilson's Style Was Deceptively Complex
The band name was a fluke. Looking to cash in on the burgeoning surf culture in the United States, the record executive who first brought Brian Wilson, Dennis Wilson, Carl Wilson, Mike Love and Al Jardine together on the obscure Candix Records label in Southern California wanted to call the assembled musicians 'The Surfers.'' But another group, as it happened, had already claimed the name. And then there was an additional problem: only one of the band members, Dennis Wilson, actively surfed. And so, as Brian Wilson — the architect of the band's sound and image, whose death, at 82, was announced by his family on Wednesday — tweeted back in 2018, the promoter Russ Regan 'changed our name to the Beach Boys.' He added that the group members themselves found out only after they saw their first records pressed. Originally, the band had another name. It was one that speaks not only to the aural backdrop the Beach Boys provided for generations but also to their enduring influence on global style. As teenagers in the late 1950s and early '60s, the band had styled itself the Pendletones. It was a homage to what was then, and in some ways still is, an unofficial uniform of Southern California surfers: swim trunks or notch pocket khakis or white jeans, and a blazing white, ringspun cotton T-shirt worn under a sturdy woolen overshirt. The shirts the Pendletones wore were produced by the family-owned company, Pendleton Woolen Mills of Portland, Ore., and had been in production since 1924. The shirts were embraced by surfers for their over-the-top durability and the easy way they bridged the intersection between work and leisure wear. The blue and gray block plaid, which Pendleton would later rename as the 'Original Surf Plaid,'' was worn by every member of the Beach Boys on the cover of their debut album, 'Surfin' Safari.' It was a look that, novel then, has since been quoted in some form by men's wear designers from Hedi Slimane to Eli Russell Linnetz and Ralph Lauren. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
What Happened to Brian Wilson? The Beach Boys Singer Passes Away
Brian Wilson, the iconic co-founder of the , has died at the age of 82, with his family confirming the news on June 11, 2025. Celebrated as a musical genius and a pioneer of modern pop, Wilson's innovative sound and songwriting defined an era and influenced generations of artists. Here's what we know so far about Brian Wilson's death. Brian Wilson, co-founder of the Beach Boys and one of the most influential figures in pop music history, died on June 11, 2025, at the age of 82. His family confirmed the news through his official website and social media channels. Details of the cause of death remain unknown. Since May 2024, a court had placed Wilson under conservatorship for his personal and medical care. Publicist Jean Sievers and manager LeeAnn Hard oversaw his affairs. He was the last surviving of the three Wilson brothers: Brian, Carl and Dennis, who helped launch the Beach Boys. The Beach Boys released over 30 Top 40 hits and sold more than 100 million records worldwide. Pet Sounds, their 1966 album, ranked No. 2 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums. Paul McCartney said the album directly influenced Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and called 'God Only Knows' one of his all-time favorite songs. Wilson stopped touring in 1964 due to a nervous breakdown and focused on studio work. He wrote and produced complex arrangements influenced by Phil Spector's Wall of Sound. His single 'Good Vibrations' became the Beach Boys' first million-seller. Wilson later abandoned his ambitious 'Smile' project in 1967 but completed it decades later. Wilson battled mental illness and addiction for decades. Doctors diagnosed him with schizoaffective disorder, and therapist Eugene Landy treated him until a court order limited Landy's control. Wilson divorced his first wife, then married Melinda Ledbetter in 1995 and had two daughters. Ledbetter died in 2024. He won two Grammy Awards and entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988. In 2012, he reunited with the surviving Beach Boys for their 50th anniversary tour. In 2018, his high school upgraded his music grade from an 'F' to an 'A.' The post What Happened to Brian Wilson? The Beach Boys Singer Passes Away appeared first on - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More.
Daily Mail
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Beach Boys' Brian Wilson's torture at the hands of his rotten father and the deep turmoil before his death
His sun-kissed songs and breezy Beach Boy bandmates formed the joyful soundtrack of a generation—a California dream that continues to resonate today. But behind Brian Wilson's musical genius lay a life shaped by trauma, mental illness, and deep personal turmoil—pain that began in childhood and surfaced even as his fame grew. Wilson endured a violent upbringing at the hands of his father, experimented heavily with drugs, and became the victim of a manipulative therapist. His brother Dennis fell into the orbit of cult leader Charles Manson. Yet despite it all, Wilson kept making music—until a dementia diagnosis finally silenced his creativity. On Wednesday, Wilson's heartbroken family announced his death at the age of 82. 'It was hard to feel happy and light when there were sad things in my head,' Wilson wrote in his 2016 autobiography I Am Brian Wilson. 'It was hard to feel free when I was tied down. 'But the only choice was to try.' And try he did – through childhood abuse, personal tragedies and battles with rampant drug use – with such success that Wilson helped create one of the most successful musical groups of all time. He battled through lawsuits, fractured relationships with family and bandmates, and a public struggle with mental illness. But he never stopped. 'Whenever I've been told to stop – by someone who thought they had power over me, by something that happened around me, by the voices in my own head – I kept going,' he wrote. Wilson was still working on music in his final years, even as his health declined and he was diagnosed with dementia. Following the death of his wife Melinda last year, he was placed under conservatorship at their home in Beverly Hills. And Wilson, himself, had spent his entire adult life sharing his music – and his pain, often openly and publicly – with the world. 'Music has always been the light in dark times,' he wrote in the final chapter of his book. The oldest of three brothers, Wilson was born in 1942 in California to Audree and Murry Wilson, an amateur songwriter who instilled his boys with a love of music but was also 'cruel' and 'violent.' 'My dad was violent. He was cruel,' Wilson wrote in his 2016 memoir. 'He drank too much and became a monster - and he didn't know how to deal with his son's fears. Whenever I got afraid, he would yell at me or slap me or call me a p****' Describing himself and brothers Dennis and Carl as 'kids who get hit,' Wilson wrote how he'd 'think of the things [their father] said always with exclamation points. 'Even if he wasn't yelling, his tone was like that.' Murry Wilson was thrilled but demanding when Wilson exhibited a particular musical aptitude and started a band with his brothers, cousin Mike Love and friend Al Jardine. But Murry 'wanted us to work all the time, and nothing we did was ever really good enough. 'He would set up our amps and scream at us to do more.' Murry Wilson started out managing the Beach Boys, though they fired him in 1964 as their star rose – and as problems began to plague Brian. He wrote in his autobiography how live performances and TV slots scared him. 'Many of my worst memories are from being nervous up there, and many others are from the things I did to keep myself from being nervous up there,' he wrote. 'Some of the drinking was because of that. Some of the drugs were because of that. 'Some of the voices in my head I heard just before I went onstage, and they didn't have anything good to say about me.' In 1964, aged 22 and newly married to a 16-year-old, Wilson had a breakdown on a flight to Houston. 'My thoughts swarmed and I blacked out,' he wrote. 'To me I blacked out. To everyone else it looked like I was screaming and holding my head in the aisle.' Wilson took a temporary break from touring. But he'd also started using drugs the same year, everything from marijuana to acid to cocaine. 'They were ways of dealing with the fact that my head wasn't right,' he wrote. 'But they didn't solve a thing. With the drugs, in fact, came very other kind of problem.' He was writing more and staying home while falling more and more into drug use. And external problems would come to plague him, too. At the end of the Sixties, Wilson's brother, Dennis, began associating with Charles Manson after getting to know two of his female followers. He raved about Manson in interviews and let members of the 'family' stay in his house; Dennis even co-wrote with the infamous killer and recorded one of his songs. He'd later try to distance himself from the Manson clan, who went on to murder victims including actress Sharon Tate; Dennis declined to testify against the killer but was privately interviewed by authorities before it was deemed his testimony was not needed. But the relationship between Brian and Dennis, also plagued by heavy substance use, would get increasingly fraught. In one instance, Dennis allegedly got Brian to buy $15,000 worth of cocaine; the older brother's former bodyguard and another later beat up Dennis, leading to a restraining order against them, writes Steven Gaines in his 1986 book Heroes and Villains: The True Story of the Beach Boys. Dennis died tragically homeless in 1983, drowning after a day of drinking. By then, Brian had been divorced five years from Marilyn, who'd given birth to the couple's two daughters, Carnie and Wendy, in the late 1960s. The marriage was unable to weather Wilson's erratic behavior and substance abuse. He'd also fallen under the control of controversial therapist Dr Eugene Landy, whom he'd first begun seeing in 1975, after the musician had ballooned in weight to 300 pounds. 'He got some results, but he went too far,' Wilson wrote. 'He was getting too involved, and then I found out what he was charging. I confronted him about it. I was pretty angry … I threw a punch and he threw one back and that was the end of it – that time, at least.' After a few years, however, Landy was called back in to again address Wilson's mental and physical health – and, as time went on, Landy began exerting more and more influence in his patient's life. That including Wilson's career, with Landy forming business partnerships with the singer and even getting producing credits – all while charging what would be millions in today's money, at times up to $35,000 a month. 'Dr Landy was a tyrant who controlled one person, and that person was me,' Wilson wrote in his book. 'He controlled where I went and what I did and who I saw and what I ate. He controlled me by spying on me. 'He controlled it by having other people spy on me. He controlled it by screaming at me. He controlled it by stuffing me full of drugs that confused me.' Landy eventually lost his license in 1989 and by the early 1990s had almost entirely left Wilson's life. The Beach Boy remarried in 1995, later adopting five children with his wife Melinda. They remained married until her death last year. Around the time of his second marriage, Wilson was also beset by lawsuits – including actions filed by his cousin and fellow Beach Boy Mike Love, who sued Wilson over claims in his 1991 memoir as well as over songwriting credits and royalties. Wilson lost both his brother Carl, who'd been a lifelong smoker, and mother Audree over a two-month period between 1997 and 1998. As the years wore on, he'd rejoin the Beach Boys for events and other shows, though even the 50th reunion tour in 2012 was marked by a public rift among members. Wilson was philosophical in his memoir four years later, recalling a talk show host in the 1970s who'd asked him 'about how I kept going through all of it: through the drugs, through the lawsuits, through the bad feelings that came up between me and the people closest to me. 'I had an answer ready,' he wrote: 'My name is Wilson … Maybe that's where I got the will.'
Daily Mail
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Beach Boys founding member breaks silence on Brian Wilson death
Al Jardine is speaking out following the death of his longtime confidante and collaborator Brian Wilson at 82. 'Brian Wilson, my friend, my classmate, my football teammate, my Beach Boy bandmate and my brother in spirit, I will always feel blessed that you were in our lives for as long as you were,' Jardine said in a statement. Jardine referenced Wilson's late brothers and Beach Boys bandmates Carl and Dennis, who died respectively in 1998 and 1983. 'I think the most comforting thought right now is that you are reunited with Carl and Dennis, singing those beautiful harmonies again,' Jardine said. Jardine wrapped up with warm words for the iconic singer-songwriter, saying, 'You were a humble giant who always made me laugh and we will celebrate your music forever.' Jardine referenced the group's 1964 track The Warmth Of The Sun, saying, 'Brian, I'll really miss you…still I have the warmth of the sun within me tonight.'
