Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys has died at 82

A cause of death has not been reported, but his "business representatives" had secured a conservatorship early in 2024 as Wilson was diagnosed with dementia. 

Brian grew up with his brothers Dennis and Carl in the suburbs of Los Angeles and formed The Beach Boys with their cousin Mike Love and their friend Al Jardine. Though the Wilson brothers had a tough childhood, they persevered and became the quintessential surf pop band. They were driven by the musical acumen of Brian, who had a particular skill with arranging pop music. He also had significant mental health issues, which begat drug use. And yet, even though, these concerns hindered him in many ways, he still managed to rise above it to craft 1966's "Pet Sounds." It's just, oh, one of the 10-most-important albums in the history of music?

There were the ups and downs and the stuff you can see in the solid biopic "Love & Mercy," though the Paul Dano half is much better than the John Cusack half. Eventually he would get back on track enough to finish his ambitious passion project "Smile." He settled into being a venerated elder statesman, though he always wore his mileage, physiological and emotional, on his visage.

Beatles producer George Martin said, "No one made a greater impact on the Beatles than Brian." Lou Reed proclaimed, "There is no god and Brian Wilson is his son." He changed pop music. He's the main reason anybody remembers surf pop. In terms of music in the 1960s, you can count on one hand the number of people as important and relevant as Brian Wilson. R.I.P.

(h/t The New York Times)