Brian Wilson Biography

Fast Facts

• Inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2000
• Inducted as a member of the Beach Boys into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988
• Ranked number 52 of the '100 Greatest Singers of All Time' by Rolling Stone magazine in 2008
• Father of Wilson Phillips members, Carnie and Wendy
• Began writing and performing his first compositions in high school at various talent shows
• Quote: "I first felt I had a good voice when I was about seventeen or eighteen and was able to sing along well to records by The Four Freshmen․ ․․․ When I wrote Surfer Girl I liked it so much that I said that I'm gonna keep on writing songs․"
• Quote: "I'm not a genius․ I'm just a hard working guy․"
• Quote: "To be a great producer, music has to be a big part of your soul․"
• Quote: "For me, making music has always been a very spiritual thing․ ․․․ Producing a record․․․the idea of taking a song, envisioning the overall sound in my head and then bringing the arrangement to life in the studio․․․well, that gives me satisfaction like nothing else․"
• Following several nervous breakdowns, he would stop performing live with the Beach Boys by 1964, eventually being replaced by Bruce Johnston
• After launching a tumultuous solo career in the 1970s, he would gain resurgence by the mid-90s, a positive change that would eventually steamroll into mainstream success after the end of his battle with mental health issues
• Made his first appearance with the Beach Boys in the summer of 1961 and would eventually go on to sign his own songwriting contract with Capitol Records the following year at only 20-years-old
• Despite being deaf from infancy, his family claims he was able to sing along to many songs as early as one-year-old
• Initially convinced his reluctant younger brother to join the band by renaming the group Carl and the Passions
• Turned the lyrics to "Surfin' in the U․S․A․" in for a high school music assignment and received a grade of F