Brian Wilson passed away today at the age of 82, leaving the world quieter, but his harmonies louder than ever in our hearts. The genius who turned surfboards into symphonies and teenage heartbreak into spiritual revelation, Wilson reshaped pop music with nothing but a piano, a sandbox, and the voices in his head. He was fragile. He was fearless. And now, he’s forever.
In tribute, here are 82 facts—fun, weird, heartbreaking, and heartwarming—about Brian Wilson, the man who heard Good Vibrations long before the rest of us knew what they were.
1. Brian Wilson could hear harmonies in his crib. Seriously—his father claimed he could hum back melodies before he could talk.
2. He lost most hearing in his right ear as a child. No one knows how. Slap? Accident? The myth lives on.
3. He once said Phil Spector’s “Be My Baby” was the greatest record ever made. He pulled his car over the first time he heard it.
4. He spent an entire year deconstructing Four Freshmen harmonies on piano.
5. He wrote “Surfer Girl” in the backseat of a car… at a stoplight.
6. He hated surfing. Never surfed. Dennis did. Brian wrote about it anyway.
7. “California Girls” came to him while tripping on LSD and listening to cowboy music.
8. He used to stuff his piano with sand so he could feel like he was playing at the beach.
9. Brian once described “Good Vibrations” as a “pocket symphony.” That pocket had a $50,000 recording budget.
10. He wrote over two dozen Top 40 hits by the age of 24.
11. He heard melodies in vacuum cleaners.
12. He once stayed in bed for years and still wrote better songs than most people do awake.
13. “Pet Sounds” was inspired by The Beatles’ “Rubber Soul.”
14. Paul McCartney said “God Only Knows” is the greatest song ever written.
15. Brian was so scared of fire, he shelved Smile after recording a song called “Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow.”
16. Smile was called a “teenage symphony to God.”
17. He didn’t finish it for almost 40 years.
18. His solo album Brian Wilson Presents Smile won a Grammy.
19. He used a theremin long before it was cool (see: “Good Vibrations”).
20. He once brought a horse into his home studio. No one stopped him.
21. He believed dogs could sense bad vibes in music.
22. Brian heard voices most of his life. He called them his “heroes and villains.”
23. His dad sold the Beach Boys’ publishing without telling him.
24. That included “Surfin’ U.S.A.” and “Wouldn’t It Be Nice.”
25. Brian once tried to write a suite based on the seasons, a fairy tale, and health food. All at once.
26. He ran a health food store called Radiant Radish. It didn’t last long.
27. He once demanded to be buried alive in his backyard.
28. Dennis Wilson punched someone for giving Brian drugs.
29. Brian responded by writing “‘Til I Die.”
30. His brothers Carl and Dennis were also in the Beach Boys. Both died before him.
31. He loved Rhapsody in Blue so much, it made him cry as a toddler.
32. He didn’t care much for performing. Touring exhausted him.
33. He called Pet Sounds his “feeling album.”
34. “I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times” was autobiographical.
35. He recorded a rap song in 1991. It was called “Smart Girls.” You can’t un-hear it.
36. He loved The Flintstones.
37. He once lived in a room filled with sand, mirrors, and a tent.
38. He produced records for girl groups like The Honeys and American Spring.
39. He was terrified of microphones for a time.
40. He wrote “Busy Doin’ Nothin’,” a song about writing a letter and making a sandwich.
41. He called his bandmates “messengers.”
42. Brian rarely wrote lyrics alone. But when he did, they were devastating.
43. He tried to get the Beach Boys to record a fairy tale. They refused.
44. His second wife, Melinda, was his rock for decades.
45. He adopted five children later in life.
46. He loved cheeseburgers and Beethoven equally.
47. He sang in a church choir as a child.
48. He had perfect pitch.
49. He once overdubbed his own vocals 24 times on one song.
50. Bruce Springsteen once said, “He’s one of the greats.”
51. He once wrote a song about vegetables. It featured Paul McCartney crunching celery.
52. He released an album of Disney songs in 2011.
53. He once said he wanted to write songs that felt like prayers.
54. “Don’t Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)” is a lullaby for the lonely.
55. He created entire songs in his head, then played them out note-for-note in the studio.
56. He often wore a bathrobe to recording sessions.
57. He sang “Be-Bop-A-Lula” on stage in slippers during his reclusive years.
58. He had a smile that could break your heart.
59. He once described himself as “a frightened man who made beautiful music.”
60. He loved Burt Bacharach more than he loved surfing.
61. He loved his brothers deeply, even when they fought.
62. He signed autographs with doodles.
63. He sometimes wrote songs by humming into a cassette recorder while driving.
64. He described himself as “rock and roll’s Mr. Magoo.”
65. He felt things too deeply and put them into melody.
66. He preferred watching TV with the sound off.
67. He didn’t read music fluently but could orchestrate in his head.
68. “Caroline, No” was his first solo single. It still hurts.
69. He once said music was how he “talked to God.”
70. His voice aged, but it never lost its soul.
71. He was once declared legally incompetent—and came back stronger.
72. He toured Pet Sounds well into his 70s.
73. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.
74. He loved being in bed more than being on stage.
75. His songs have been covered by everyone from Elton John to Sonic Youth.
76. He collaborated with the Zombies in his later years.
77. He could sing “In My Room” and make an entire arena cry.
78. He found solace in a piano more than people.
79. He gave us the blueprint for sensitive, beautiful pop.
80. His songs are lullabies for the broken, ballads for the dreamers.
81. He once said, “My job is to bring love to the world.”
82. Mission accomplished, Brian.
Brian Wilson didn’t just change music—he gave sound to the soul of an era and taught us that vulnerability could be symphonic. Today, the world mourns not just a Beach Boy, but a beacon. The songs remain. The genius lingers. And somewhere, someone’s heart just swelled at a chord change he thought of 60 years ago.
Thank you, Brian. Wouldn’t it be nice… if you could stay forever.