On June 11, 2025, the legendary musician Brian Wilson passed away, leading many to reflect on his career as a musical pioneer. Brian Wilson is a complex figure—often seen as a generational musical talent, but also as someone whose personal struggles spiraled his career downward at his prime. Wilson does not have the same name recognition as many of his peers, yet his music has proven timeless, with almost everyone being able to recognize his various hits, even if they are less familiar with the man behind them.

A Promising Start

Brian Wilson started life as a musical prodigy, with a choir instructor determining the boy had perfect pitch. He was able to learn songs by ear and played numerous instruments. Wilson decided to pursue music, forming a band with his brothers that would later go on to be named the Beach Boys.

Once the band had been formed, they quickly found success with their first single, “Surfin’,” which became a modest Billboard hit. During this time, Wilson started to work more seriously as a producer for the Beach Boys, aspiring to be like the several dual musician-producers of the day.

One of the reasons for the band’s success was their combination of radio-friendly lyrics about surfing and youth culture, combined with increasingly ambitious composition, melodies, and production. The band had seemingly reached a sweet spot where they were consistently producing music that was commercially successful and respected by critics for its stellar songwriting.

The momentum continued with the Beach Boys’ first album, Surfin’ Safari, which was another big hit. By this time, the band had successfully entered the mainstream, with the group seemingly turning out one hit after another.

Rivalry With The Beatles

In the mid-60s, The Beatles started to explode in popularity nationwide. Like the Beach Boys, The Beatles produced music that was artistically respected while being massively popular with the mainstream.

Whether or not The Beatles are, “better,” than the Beach Boys is one of the most hotly debated issues in the history of music. What can be said without a doubt is that the, “Fab Four,” absolutely eclipsed the Beach Boys in terms of star power. Although the members of both bands maintained positive relationships with one another, an intense rivalry began, with each trying to top the other’s previous release.

In 1964, the Beach Boys released one of their most iconic hits, “I Get Around.” The smash hit song’s prominence on the airwaves was seen as one of the few American chart-toppers during the British Invasion, briefly standing out amid the dominance of British rock bands like The Beatles.

In 1965, The Beatles released their album Rubber Soul, another massive success for the band. Rubber Soul was seen as more lyrically sophisticated than earlier albums by The Beatles, focusing more on emotions such as loss, nostalgia, and self-identity, rather than the themes of teenage romance that could be found in most of their earlier tracks. From a production standpoint, the album was highly innovative, using new techniques to give a more layered, complete sound. Wilson was impressed by the album and felt driven to outdo it.

Pet Sounds and Smile

Wilson began to work on the Beach Boys’ next album, Pet Sounds, which became an obsession for him. Wilson stopped touring with the Beach Boys to focus his attention solely on the album, often working late into the night trying to get everything to sound perfect. During this time, he was considered to be at his creative peak, but reportedly felt increasingly burdened by the pressure of fame and a desire to live up to his own perfectionism.

When Pet Sounds came out, it was a landmark album with critics. Like The Beatles, Wilson had shifted toward more emotionally complex lyrics, with many of the tracks being noticeably more melancholy than the happy-go-lucky hits the Beach Boys were known for. The album also used revolutionary production techniques, often being cited as one of the most influential of all time.

Despite the critical success of the album, it was not as big of a commercial success as Wilson wanted, only managing to chart 10th on the Billboard charts. Wilson felt discouraged by this, but decided to carry on, believing he could make an even more ambitious album. He started to work on the Beach Boys’ next planned album, Smile.

During this time, Wilson’s mental state started to deteriorate, and his relationship with the band began to fall apart. For the last several years, Wilson had been gradually experimenting more and more with drugs, which are believed to have triggered or worsened underlying mental health issues. Following the release of Pet Sounds, many in the media had coined Wilson a, “genius,” but this label only went on to put more pressure on him to meet expectations.

Downward Spiral and Recovery

In the late ’60s, Wilson had a full-on mental breakdown, leading to the cancellation of Smile.

From the late ’60s to the early ’90s, Wilson continued to struggle with his mental health, struggling to regain control of his life and rarely leaving his house. During this time he still made some public appearances with the other members of The Beach Boys, but his involvement in songwriting was minimal.

By the early ’90s, Wilson started to regularly release new music and began to perform with the band again. Around this time Wilson remarried, with his wife often credited with helping him recover and providing an emotional support system that allowed him to stay stable.

After a decade of releasing new music, Wilson finally completed Smile in 2004—reworked as a solo album—after shelving the project several decades earlier. Upon release, the album was met with positive fan and critical feedback, earning Wilson his first Grammy. In 2023, Rolling Stone Magazine released their list of the 500 best albums of all time, putting Pet Sounds at #2.

Wilson continued to tour into his old age, often playing fan-favorite albums in their entirety. Eventually, as his physical health deteriorated, he had to step down again, passing away at the age of 82.

Brian Wilson didn’t always get the recognition he deserved during his lifetime, but his impact on music is impossible to ignore. He pushed pop forward in ways most people don’t even realize, and even when his career took a nosedive, his best work kept finding new audiences. Now that he’s gone, people are remembering just how much he did—and how much of it still holds up.