Brian Wilson Dead at 82

Being Paste‘s music editor, it’s my job to write obituaries for the beloved musicians who inevitably leave us. This is the one I hoped I’d never have to write. Brian Wilson, the man responsible for writing some of the greatest songs in the history of recorded music, has passed away after living with a neurocognitive disorder similar to dementia. He was 82.

“We are heartbroken to announce that our beloved father Brian Wilson has passed away,” Brian’s family wrote in a statement shared on his official Facebook and Instagram pages. “We are at a loss for words right now. Please respect our privacy at this time as our family is grieving. We realize that we are sharing our grief with the world. Love & Mercy.”

In my opinion, nobody’s musicality stood up to Wilson’s. Songs like “Don’t Worry Baby,” “God Only Knows,” “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” and “Surf’s Up” are some of the most important creations in modern recorded music. And that’s not even including “Good Vibrations,” a perfect, audacious invention not yet replicated or rivaled. Had Wilson successfully completed his “teenage symphony to God,” Smile, in 1967, there would’ve been no debate between the Beach Boys and Beatles. Suffice to say: A world without Brian Wilson in it isn’t a very good one. He was pop music’s greatest architect.

Wilson, born in Inglewood and raised in Hawthorne, formed a band called the Pendletones with his brothers Dennis and Carl, cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Candix Records changed the band’s name to the Beach Boys and, in 1963, they found their first Top 10 single in “Surfin’ U.S.A.” A year later, Wilson suffered a significant panic attack and subsequently quit touring with the band. That decision opened the door for a more focused approach to production, which inevitably resulted in the birth of Pet Sounds, the Wrecking Crew-assisted project that, in 2024, we named one of the greatest albums of all time.