Paul McCartney has paid tribute to Brian Wilson following the death of the Beach Boys’ “musical genius.”
“Brian had that mysterious sense of musical genius that made his songs so achingly special,” McCartney wrote on social media Thursday, the morning after Wilson’s death was announced.
“The notes he heard in his head and passed to us were simple and brilliant at the same time. I loved him, and was privileged to be around his bright shining light for a little while.”
The Beach Boys and the Beatles enjoyed a creative rivalry in the Sixties that pushed both bands musically, to the benefit of everyone: In response to the Beatles’ Rubber Soul, Brian Wilson encouraged his band toward experimentation to create their classic Pet Sounds (Rolling Stone named it Number Two in its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time) which in turn inspired the Beatles on Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
McCartney has long praised Wilson’s incomparable musical abilities, and even delivered the induction speech when the Beach Boy was welcomed into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, where he declared Wilson was “one of the great American geniuses.”
The Beatle has also claimed that the Beach Boys’ “God Only Knows” is his favorite song of all time, and fittingly ended his tribute by noting, “How we will continue without Brian Wilson, ‘God Only Knows.’”
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Following news of Wilson’s death, his Beach Boys band mates and some of the countless artists he inspired have also paid tribute to the pop music architect and composer of teenage symphonies to God. Elton John called Wilson “the biggest influence on my songwriting ever; he was a musical genius and revolutionary. He changed the goalposts when it came to writing songs and shaped music forever. A true giant.”
Artists like Carole King, Graham Nash, Mick Fleetwood, Nancy Sinatra, and more have shared their own tributes to Wilson.
