Brian Wilson, founding member of The Beach Boys, has passed away.
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According to NPR, he died at 82 from a neurocognitive disorder. The Wilson family said, “We realize that we are sharing our grief with the world.”
Wilson has many notable achievements, such as forming The Beach Boys in 1962 with his brothers, cousin, and friend.
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He had a huge connection to The Walt Disney Company. One of them was appearing in the 1965 film, The Monkey’s Uncle, where they performed the song, “The Monkey’s Uncle” alongside Annette Funicello.
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His music and music videos were frequently shared on The Disney Channel, and his songs were often set to footage from Disney animation on DTV. The Beach Boys’ songs appeared in many Disney television shows, including WandaVision, and they were featured in special episodes of shows like Home Improvement.
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Wilson’s music also played in many locations at the Disney theme parks. Many of their songs were played as background music in Paradise Pier at Disney California Adventure from 2001 to 2012, as well as at the entrance of DCA.
“California Girls” was parodied into “California Bears” in Country Bear Vacation Hoedown, the summer overlay of Country Bear Jamboree at Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland. “Good Vibrations” was parodied as “Good Nutrition,” featured in EPCOT’s Food Rocks attraction from 1994 to 2004.
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You can watch a documentary called The Beach Boys on Disney+ to learn more about their legacy.
Our thoughts go out to the Wilson family.
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Some of the music video for Kokomo was filmed at the Grand Floridian.
We saw the Beach Boys live at Epcot many years ago during the Eat to the Beat series at the Food and Wine Festival. It’s always good to see a group that you know all the songs for. Just as they started playing, one of Florida’s legendary rain falls dropped. It gave a real festival feeling to it!
A very sad day. Lost another music icon. Sending prayers to his family and throngs of fans.