Brian Wilson, singer and co-founder of the Beach Boys, is suffering from dementia and his family wants to place him under the guardianship of his agents following the recent death of his wife, several American media outlets revealed on Friday.
The 81-year-old musician, whose group produced the soundtrack to the Californian Sixties legend, has been “diagnosed with dementia,” his agent Jean Sievers told the New York Times.
According to a press release posted on Instagram, she will soon serve as his guardian alongside his manager LeeAnn Hard.
According to the press release, this decision was made “following the death” of his wife Melinda Wilson in January and “after careful consideration and consultation between Brian, his seven children (…) and Brian's doctors.”
This guardianship still needs to be confirmed by a judge. The family filed the petition in a Los Angeles court this week.
Brian Wilson suffers from a “severe neurocognitive disorder” and “is unable to meet his personal physical health needs,” according to court documents filed by the family and cited by American media.
The singer's notorious drug use had led to mental health problems that began to manifest themselves in the late 1960s.
He had described his wife Melinda, whom he met in the 1980s, as a “savior” who gave him a second career and completed his unfinished masterpiece, the album “Smile”.
This American pop prodigy made history in the early 1960s when he composed rock's happiest music with more than 200 anthems to sun, surf and tanned girls (“Surfin' USA,” “I Get Around,” “Fun Fun Fun,” “Surfer Girls”). This made the Beach Boys the American group with the most records sold worldwide.
Between the ages of 19 and 24, the bassist and singer was on a par with the Beatles: John Lennon considered “Pet Sounds” (1966) to be one of the best albums of all time. After the innocence of the first compositions, the singer pondered the loss of his youth and moved his group towards a more psychedelic rock with roots in hippie culture.