SURF'S UP FOR BEACH BOYS LEGEND

Singer penned timeless classics but also battled addiction issues

- BY CHRISTOPHER BUCKTIN

BRIAN Wilson, who gave the Beach Boys their soaring harmonies and aching vulnerability, has died aged 82.

He was the true genius behind timeless classics like Good Vibrations, California Girls and God Only Knows which Paul McCartney called “the greatest song ever written”.

But he was also a tortured one, suffering from mental health problems and addiction to drugs and booze as the Swinging Sixties took their toll.

“I just wanted to write beautiful music,” Wilson once said. “That's all I ever wanted to do.”

Brian was born in in Inglewood, California, in 1942. He was the eldest of three sons raised by an abusive father, Murry, and music became his escape.

Brian began writing songs with cousin Mike Love and, along with friend Al Jardine, they formed the Beach Boys in 1961 with brothers Carl and Dennis.

While the group embodied the all-American image of surfboards and hot rods, it was Wilson who infused the songs with soul and yearning.

Hits like Surfer Girl, Don't Worry Baby, and In My Room spoke for a teenage generation, earning him a fortune by the time he was 21.

PANIC

“I'd earned over a million dollars by the time I was old enough to vote,” he once said. But it came at a cost.

“I had a lot of insecurities,” Wilson later admitted. “I used to lie in bed and dream that I could write songs that made people feel something inside.

Wilson had a panic attack on a 1964 Beach Boys tour and decided to quit the road. It freed him to focus on the studio.

What followed was Pet Sounds, a landmark 1966 album now regarded as one of the greatest in history.