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I was so thrilled to hear that I've been chosen to receive the BMI Icon award, especially as so many of my all-time favorite songwriters have previously received this honor
Brian Wilson honored for songwriting Apr 07, 2004
I immediately went home and put on the Beach Boys' record. I've got to admit, the record wasn't as good
Rock News Two: The week in pop music May 11, 2002
I immediately went home and put on the Beach Boys' record. I've got to admit, the record wasn't as good
Rock News: Music's high and low notes May 08, 2002
The only people who think the provision of electricity is not a priority in poverty alleviation are those who have never been without it
G8 to push for energy research May 02, 2002
Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942) is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group. Besides being the primary composer in The Beach Boys, he also functioned as the band's main producer and arranger. Wilson's life was derailed by years of drug abuse and mental illness, contributing to tensions with the band. After years of treatment and recuperation, he began a solo career in 1988.
That same year, Wilson and his band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which refers to Wilson on its website as "One of the few undisputed geniuses in popular music". In 2008, Rolling Stone magazine published a list of the "100 Greatest Singers of All Time", and ranked Wilson number 52. Wilson won a Grammy Award in 2005 for "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow (Fire)" as Best Rock Instrumental. He is also an occasional actor and voice actor, having appeared in television shows, films, and other artists' music videos.
Wilson was born on June 20, 1942 at Centinela Hospital in Inglewood, California. He was the eldest of three boys; his younger brothers were Dennis and Carl. When Brian was two, the Wilson family moved from Inglewood to 3701 West 119th Street in nearby Hawthorne, California, a town in the greater Los Angeles urban area about five miles inland from the Pacific Ocean. He spent his entire subsequent childhood years in this middle-class family home.