Brian Wilson
American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer · United States · Musicians · Lived 1942 to 2025 · aged 82
Brian Wilson is read about 4,067 times a day, in 58 languages.
A typical day, 30 days to 21 October 2026
The middle day of the days counted, so one week of news cannot move it. The line under it is the last 396 days, one point a day.
Something wrong?He turned the studio into an instrument and the pop song into architecture - Brian Wilson built symphonies out of surf music, then watched his mind fracture under the weight of what he heard.
A life in dates
At My PianoAlbum2020Orange Crate InstrumentalsAlbum2015
No Pier PressureAlbum2013Grammy Award for Best Historical AlbumAward2011
In the Key of DisneyAlbum2010
Brian Wilson Reimagines GershwinAlbum2008
That Lucky Old SunAlbum2005Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental PerformanceAwardMusiCares Person of the YearAward
What I Really Want for ChristmasAlbum, 20052004Gettin' In Over My HeadAlbum2001“We wanted to bring some love to the world. I thought we were good at doing that. Bringin' love to the world.”In their words6 November 2001"A Pop Genius Speaks of Love, Mercy, and Melody " (6 November 2001)2000“It's funny how people are pickin' up on our music now, you know? I think it's wonderful that people like our music.”In their words20 April 2000Caroline Now! interview (20 April 2000)1999“I would have the musicians keep playing over and over again till the sound made sense. I worked overtime on that; I worked hours to get it right.”In their words9 December 1999Interview with Dale Turner, 9 December 1999“It was very competitive in the '60s. And everybody caught the bug, y'know? It was like a “competitive bug.” And, as far as I could see, everybody was turning everybody on.”In their words9 December 1999Interview with Dale Turner, 9 December 19991998
ImaginationAlbum1997LandylockedAlbum1995
I Just Wasn't Made for These TimesAlbum
Orange Crate ArtAlbum, 19951991Sweet InsanityAlbum1988“You don't want to be scared all the time. There are other emotions besides fear. You've got anger. You've got jealousy. You've got joy. You've got fascination.”In their wordsAugust 1988"Trouble in Mind - An Interview with Brian Wilson" in BAM! (August 1988)
Brian WilsonAlbum, 19881984“Being single is like liking a Phil Spector record.”In their wordsDuring an appearance on The Tonight Show (1984)1942Born20 June 1942Also in Deutsch
Photos 8
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In their own words 10
, I met Paul in 1967, Ringo in 1985, and I saw George Harrison in a nightclub somewhere in L. A. I never met John.
We wanted to bring some love to the world. I thought we were good at doing that. Bringin' love to the world.
I think because I felt so sad I had to bring out my feelings, and try to create music that would make me and all my friends feel better.
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13.4K subscribersAlbums 15
APAt My Piano
NPNo Pier Pressure
IDIn the Key of Disney
BGBrian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin
TSThat Lucky Old Sun
WCWhat I Really Want for Christmas
SMSMiLE
IMImagination
ITI Just Wasn't Made for These Times
OAOrange Crate Art
BWBrian WilsonAwards
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Brian Douglas Wilson was born June 20, 1942, and by 1961 had co-founded the Beach Boys, writing, arranging, producing, and performing in a way no pop musician had before Capitol signed them in 1962. He stacked two dozen Top 40 hits by the mid-1960s - "I Get Around," "Help Me, Rhonda," "Good Vibrations" - then suffered a nervous breakdown in late 1964 and stopped touring to focus on the studio. In 1966 he completed Pet Sounds and began Smile, an unfinished album that marked the start of a long decline: his voice, his health, his output all gave way to reclusion and substance abuse. A near-solo comeback arrived with The Beach Boys Love You in 1977, followed by a fraught partnership with psychologist Eugene Landy through the 1980s that yielded the solo album Brian Wilson in 1988. He broke from Landy in 1991, toured regularly from 1999 to 2022, and finally released a finished Smile in 2004. He died June 11, 2025, of respiratory arrest.
In common with Brian
Paul McCartneyBoth received Grammy Award for Best Historical Album
Jeff BeckBoth received Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance
Quincy JonesBoth received MusiCares Person of the Year
David CrosbyBoth received MusiCares Person of the Year
Duane EddyBoth received Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance
Michael LangBoth received Grammy Award for Best Historical AlbumFame.am measures public visibility signals. It does not measure human value, talent, morality, or credibility.