‘Biggest Influence on My Songwriting’

John explained that their relationship grew beyond music. “I grew to love him as a person, and for me, he was the biggest influence on my songwriting ever; he was a musical genius and revolutionary. He changed the goalposts when it came to writing songs and shaped music forever. A true giant.”

Wilson’s family announced his death on social media Wednesday afternoon, Eastern. While they did not provide a cause, it was revealed that legendary singer and producer was battling dementia in February 2024. Stars like Carole King, Graham Nash, Mick Fleetwood, Nancy Sinatra, and more have shared their own tributes to Wilson. 

Wilson’s former Beach Boys manager Fred Vail told Rolling Stone, “Sixty-two years, that’s how long we were buddies. Some great memories, some great moments. They all fly back at me: meeting them at the old house in Hawthorne; sitting on the floor at Capitol, when he mastered Pet Sounds; at Columbia, when we recorded ‘Good Vibrations’; and then all the shows at the auditorium in Sacramento that I emceed.” Vail, 81, said, “The three Wilsons are finally back together,” nodding to the deaths of Brian’s bandmates and siblings in the Beach Boys, Dennis Wilson and Carl Wilson, who died in 1983 and 1998, respectively.

Listen to 25 essential Brian Wilson songs here.