Singer Carnie Wilson candidly admitted she used to get butterflies around her late uncle, Beach Boys hotshot Dennis Wilson.
“He was always, like, this mysterious, sexy man, and he was my uncle,” the “Hold On” songstress, whose father is Beach Boys co-founder Brian Wilson, said on Wednesday’s episode of “The Magnificent Others” podcast.
“But like, I’d get butterflies around him. He’s very handsome. He was very sensitive.”
Carnie, now 57, said she was 15 years old when her uncle died.
Dennis battled an alcohol and drug addiction and was in and out of hospitals leading up to his death on Dec. 28, 1983, at the age of 39.
The “Surfin’ USA” crooner was allegedly heavily drinking on a 52-foot yacht on the day he jumped into the Marina Del Rey, Calif., seaside and drowned, according to People.
“He was just being Dennis, entertaining everybody, being his lovable self, goofing around,” Bill Oster, owner of the vessel, told the outlet at the time.
Harbor patrol went to search for Dennis when he didn’t come out of the water, and his body was later recovered.
The “Good Vibrations” singer had married his wife, Shawn Marie Love, about five months before he died.
Love, who died in 2003 of liver cancer, shared a son, Gage Wilson, with Dennis.
Gage, now 42, was only a year old when the “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” singer passed away.
Dennis was also the father to Jennifer Wilson, 58, Michael Wilson, 54, and Carl Wilson, 52, and Scott Wilson, whom he welcomed from various relationships.
The Beach Boys were famously formed in 1961 and quickly rose to fame after signing with Capitol Records and releasing songs like “Surfin’ USA.”
The boy band’s original line-up consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love and pal Al Jardine.
Carl also died in 1998 from lung cancer at the age of 51, while the other members are still alive.
Mike and the new band members continue to perform and are embarking on their “Sounds of Summer Tour” in the upcoming months.
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