Brian Wilson, the leader of the Beach Boys who death at 82 was announced on Wednesday, provided a joyous soundtrack for beach vacations and summer road trips for generations of people.
Among pop and rock musicians he will also be remembered as a talented songwriter and studio pioneer whose music has had an immense influence for decades on those who followed him.
The Beach Boys had 13 singles in the Billboard Top 10, with three of them reaching No. 1. Their influence on the surf rock genre and on popular music generally was recognized by the variety of people who paid respects on social media to Wilson on Wednesday.
Here’s what some of Wilson’s friends had to say about his death and legacy.
Paul McCartney, a Wilson contemporary, noted that there was a chorus of tributes from other musicians, saying Wilson had a “mysterious sense of musical genius” that made his songs special. “The notes he heard in his head and passed to us were simple and brilliant at the same time,” McCartney said. “I loved him, and was privileged to be around his bright shining light for a little while. How we will continue without Brian Wilson, ‘God Only Knows.’”
Carole King, also a contemporary, wrote on Facebook that Wilson was her friend and brother in songwriting. “We shared a similar sensibility, as evidenced by his 4 over 5 chord under ‘Aaaah!’ in ‘Good Vibrations’ and mine under ‘I’m Into Something Good,’” she said. “We once discussed who used it first, and in the end we decided it didn’t matter.”
In 2015, “Love & Mercy,” a biopic about Wilson’s life starring John Cusack was released. On Wednesday, Cusack said that the “maestro” had died, adding that the hitmaker was an open heart with two legs “with an ear that heard the angels.”
Nancy Sinatra, a singer whose biggest hits were in the ’60s and ’70s, said in an Instagram post that Wilson’s music will “live forever as he travels through the Universe and beyond.” She added that one of the biggest thrills of her life was singing “California Girls” with him.
Paul Stanley, the Kiss frontman, said that “genius” was a term too often used and too loosely, along with “tortured genius.” “Brian’s astonishing output of musical brilliance will bring joy while influences generations to come,” he said.
Others shared tributes that highlighted Wilson’s work. Mick Fleetwood, the drummer and Fleetwood Mac co-founder, said, “Anyone with a musical bone in their body must be grateful for Brian Wilson’s genius magical touch!!”
Sean Ono Lennon said that Wilson had influenced him and that he was lucky to have met and to have spent time together. “He was our American Mozart,” he wrote on X. “A one of a kind genius from another world.”
Tributes also poured in from Bob Dylan, Ringo Starr of the Beatles, and Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones.
Micky Dolenz, the last surviving member of the Monkees, called Wilson “ a true giant — not just of music, but of spirit,” and added: “His melodies shaped a generation, his harmonies changed the game, and his soul came through in every note.
Randy Bachman, of Bachman-Turner Overdrive, called the Beach Boys “America’s answer to the Beatles,” whose song structures and vocals had wide influence. “We lost one of the greatest composers and messengers who took jazz harmony, put it to a Chuck Berry beat and made a new genre of music,” he posted on X.
And Questlove, drummer for the Roots, described on Instagram the cathartic influence the album “Pet Sounds,” widely regarded as Wilson’s studio masterpiece, had on him as a young, starving musician. “If there is a human being who made art of inexpressible sadness,” he wrote, “damn it was Brian Wilson.”
Derrick Bryson Taylor is a Times reporter covering breaking news in culture and the arts.
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