With all due respect to this legendary wizard of songcraft, it ain’t over until the fat man sings.

Having just recently celebrated his 82nd birthday, Brian Wilson now finds himself suffering from the ill effects of dementia as well as the loss of his longtime wife and partner, Melinda Ledbetter, who passed away earlier this year after nearly 30 years of marriage.

Wilson’s health was under scrutiny this past February when court documents filed by his representatives stated that Wilson

“does not have the capacity to give informed consent to the administration of medications appropriate to the care and treatment of major neurocognitive disorders including dementia”

The court papers went on to describe Wilson as someone who is

“unable to properly provide for his personal needs for physical health, food, clothing, or shelter”.

 

 

The extraordinarily complicated saga of Wilson’s celebrated life of lofty accomplishments and widely documented lows is well into its third act by now. Sadly, it appears the end is nigh for the storied songwriter who will undoubtedly be remembered as one of the finest composers the century produced.

 

 

And yet, as his time draws near, one can see an arc of perfect symmetry that has characterized the later part of Wilson’s unparalleled career.

 

 

In 2012, to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the birth of The Beach Boys, Wilson and the other surviving members of the group banded together to write and record their 29th, and most likely final, studio album, That’s Why God Made The Radio.

 

 

The album was followed by a grueling six month, 73 date 50th Anniversary Reunion Tour, marking the first time Wilson consistently performed with the band on a full tour in 30 years. Wilson had previously stopped touring with the band in late 1964 and did not return for almost 20 years.

 

 

Prior to the conclusion of the tour on September 28, 2012 at London’s Wembley Stadium, several media stories surfaced highlighting the decades long power struggle and tension that exists between Wilson and bandmate Mike Love. The fact that Love owns the trademark to The Beach Boys name gave rise to rumours that he had kicked Wilson out of the band.

Parting on bad terms, Love and company continued as the “official” Beach Boys on their never ending nostalgia driven cash grab tours while Brian regrouped in 2015 with fellow Beach Boys Al Jardine, David Marks and Blondie Chaplin to record a septuagenarian’s response to a twentysomething’s concept album, Pet Sounds.

 

 

The aptly named No Pier Pressure, an intentional reference identifying Mike Love, Wilson’s one time peer, as absent from the project, would have been the perfect denouement to an already extraordinary career had it not been for its follow up six years later.

 

When recording At My Piano in 2021, likely his final album, Wilson created an entirely new genre of music, one yet to be given a name.

A hybrid of classical music and the recording process of popular song, this new sonic creation of Wilson’s fuses melodies from his already perfectly constructed compositions with arrangements from their original recordings.

Wilson utilizes one lone solo piano to reproduce the cacophony of sound originally made by countless studio musicians and instruments. The result is breathtaking.

 

 

Think of your favourite most precious rock n roll records, no matter how loud or abrasive, reimagined as nocturnes. Only Brian Wilson could have heard that in his head.

His exquisite physical relationship with single notes and the keys on a piano channels some of the most achingly beautiful music ever to emanate through a human body.

That’s the genius of Brian Wilson. The very music that lives within his celestial core. Celebrate it while there’s still a chance for him to feel your love.

God only knows what we’d be without Brian Wilson.