Beach Boys icon Brian Wilson’s cause of death has been revealed publicly two weeks after his passing at 82.
Wilson’s children announced his death on the singer’s official Instagram page on Wednesday June 11 – a year after it emerged that he had been diagnosed with a neurocognitive disorder similar to dementia.
Per a death certificate obtained by TMZ, Wilson died from respiratory arrest – which occurs when the heart is still beating, but the lungs stop functioning, making it impossible for the person to get oxygen.
Wilson was also suffering from a litany of other health issues at the time of his death, with infections sepsis and cystitis also listed on the certificate.
Associated factors include neurodegenerative disorder, obstructive sleep apnea, chronic respiratory failure and chronic kidney disease.
The God Only Knows hitmaker shot to fame as the frontman of the Beach Boys, for which he served as the principal songwriter as well as the co-lead vocalist.
Beach Boys icon Brian Wilson’s cause of death has been revealed publicly two weeks after his passing at 82; pictured 2020 in Miami
Wilson formed the Beach Boys in 1961 with his brothers Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love and their friend Al Jardine – The Beach Boys are pictured in 1964
Wilson formed the Beach Boys in 1961 with his brothers Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love and their friend Al Jardine.
The original name of the band was the Pendletones, and they exploded onto the scene with their 1961 song Surfin’, written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love.
Over the course of the 1960s the group became one of the most beloved in America, releasing albums like Surfin’ Safari, Surfin’ U.S.A. and Surfer Girl.
Their 1966 hit God Only Knows was branded ‘the greatest song ever written’ by Beatles legend Paul McCartney.
Along with their pioneering musical style, the band also conjured up an intoxicating image of a carefree California lifestyle of sunshine, palm trees and sea air.
However Wilson’s involvement with the Beach Boys shifted dramatically when he suffered a nervous breakdown in 1964, followed by two more in the next couple of years.
He promptly withdrew from touring but retained his backstage control of the band as a writer and producer, masterminding their 1966 magnum opus Pet Sounds and providing lead vocals on many of the tracks.
Pet Sounds struggled commercially at first, but ultimately earned a reputation as one of the most acclaimed pop albums ever created.
Per a death certificate obtained by TMZ , Wilson died from respiratory arrest – which occurs when the heart is still beating, but the lungs stop functioning, making it impossible for the person to get oxygen; pictured 1968
The Beach Boys are pictured in 1964
Melinda, his second and final wife, married Wilson in 1995, and he credited her as his ‘savior’ in his devastated statement on her death last year; the couple are pictured in 1995
His children announced Wilson’s death on the singer’s official Instagram page on June 11, along with what appeared to be a recent photo
Last February, shortly after his wife Melinda’s death, Wilson’s family filed to obtain a conservatorship of him, announcing his diagnosis with a dementia-like condition.
They said he often made ‘spontaneous irrelevant or incoherent utterances,’ had a ‘very short attention span and while unintentionally disruptive, is frequently unable to maintain decorum appropriate to the situation,’ in documents obtained by The Blast.
Melinda, the family argued, had been attending to Wilson’s ‘daily living needs’ and her absence had left him ‘unable to properly provide for his own personal needs for physical health, food, clothing, or shelter.’
The last time Wilson was seen in public was April 2024, when he emerged looking frail in a wheelchair to attend a Los Angeles Lakers game.
News of his death provoked an outpouring of grief from his fans, including Elton John, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, Mick Fleetwood, Micky Dolenz, the Backstreet Boys, Randy Bachman and John Lennon’s sons Julian Lennon and Sean Lennon.
Wilson’s survivors include his daughters Carnie, 57, and Wendy, 55, whom he had with his first wife Marilyn, as well as the five children he adopted with Melinda, who are called Dakota Rose, Daria Rose, Delanie Rose, Dylan and Dash.
