KVRR honors the memory of Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys on his passing at 82
FARGO, N.D. (KVRR/FOX) — Brian Wilson, founder of The Beach Boys, has died at 82.
His family confirmed the news on social media writing, “We are heartbroken to announce that our beloved father Brian Wilson has passed away. We are at a loss for words right now. Please respect our privacy at this time as our family is grieving. We realize that we are sharing our grief with the world.”
The band began with his two brothers, Carl and Dennis.
Eventually, they were joined by their cousin, Mike Love, and a friend from school, Al Jardine.
KVRR’s TJ Nelson talked with Mike Love last month before their concert in Mahnomen and briefly talked about his cousin.
TJ: “Do you keep in touch with your cousin, Brian, at all?”
Mike Love: “I just went and visited him last week, yeah and so he cannot get around, he’s very handicapped.
Um, he can barely walk. He takes a stroller to a wheelchair and is pretty sedentary all the time. It’s sad to see him in that shape, but he asked me to sing with him. (laughs) And so we sat around for 45 minutes to an hour just singing songs. Which was a lot of fun actually.”
TJ: “That’s fantastic.”
We’ll look back at his life and incredible career tonight at 9 in The Buzz.
The Beach Boys began with Brian and his two brothers, Carl and Dennis. Eventually, they were joined by their cousin, Mike Love, and a friend from school, Al Jardine. The band is one of the most commercially successful groups of all time, selling over 100 million records worldwide. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.
In January 1963, The Beach Boys recorded their first top-10 single, “Surfin’ U.S.A.,” which began their long run of highly successful recording efforts.
They released “Summer Days (and Summer Nights!!)” in 1965, which included “California Girls” and “Help Me, Rhonda.” The following year, they released the critically acclaimed “Pet Sounds” album.
Last year, Wilson was placed under a conservatorship following a dementia diagnosis.
The diagnosis, coupled with the death of Brian’s wife, Melinda Wilson, led his family and doctors to make the decision.
“Following the passing of Brian’s beloved wife Melinda, after careful consideration and consultation among Brian, his seven children, Gloria Ramos and Brian’s doctors (and consistent with family processes put in place by Brian and Melinda), we are confirming that longtime Wilson family representatives LeeAnn Hard and Jean Sievers will serve as Brian’s co-conservators of the person,” the family said in a statement to Fox News Digital at the time.
