The Beach Boys review – rather too sunny account of 60s pop legends’ story
Judge places Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson in conservatorship
February 2024
Beach Boys star Brian Wilson has dementia
New conservatorship is being proposed for the musician, following the death of his wife Melinda in January, according to court documents
January 2022
Ranked
The Beach Boys’ 40 greatest songs – ranked!
As a new documentary about Brian Wilson arrives, we take on the near-impossible task of sorting his band’s best, from lustful-teen pop to meditative balladry
Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road review – a poignant look back
This sensitive documentary allows the troubled Beach Boy to reflect on a long and lustrous career
Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road review – good vibrations in kindly portrait
There’s smart input from Bruce Springsteen, Elton John and others, but this documentary really excels in its moments of intimacy as Wilson revisits his past
August 2021
‘It was the happiest time’: the Beach Boys on their strange second coming
They helped define the 60s, but were hopelessly uncool as the 70s began – and Brian Wilson was unravelling. The band discuss the masterpieces they made against the odds
June 2020
Echo in the Canyon review – hopelessly lazy LA rock doc
Brian Wilson, Beck and Eric Clapton are among the star contributors, but the story of Laurel Canyon’s folk-rock scene remains a mystery – and where’s Joni?
May 2020
The 100 greatest UK No 1 singles
The 100 greatest UK No 1s: No 11, The Beach Boys – Good Vibrations
It captured the mumbled inarticulacy and heightened feelings of love, but also the sound of a culture changing
February 2020
Brian Wilson boycotts Beach Boys over hunting convention
Touring version of Beach Boys led by Mike Love due to play at ‘trophy hunting’ event featuring Donald Trump Jr
June 2019
Brian Wilson postpones US tour due to 'mental insecurity'
Beach Boys singer has been ‘struggling with stuff in my head and saying things I don’t mean’ but intends to make return this year
August 2018
And the band played on: how to grow old gracefully in pop
Madonna may have hit a birthday milestone but, from Johnny Cash’s stark admission of age to Paul McCartney’s embrace of hip young things, there’s ways to keep your music fresh
April 2018
Book of the day
As Time Goes By by Derek Taylor review – a poignant insight into the Beatles
This updated memoir from the Fab Four’s press officer is an astute but self-effacing take on a unique era
August 2017
Brian Wilson review – still surf pop’s golden Boy
Brian Wilson review – frail Beach Boy isn't made for these times
October 2016
Readers recommend
Readers recommend playlist: your songs about songwriting
This week a playlist of songs where musicians look inwards at the process and outwards at their songwriting heroes – from Bryan Wilson to Bob Dylan
I Am Brian Wilson: A Memoir by Brian Wilson with Ben Greenman; Good Vibrations: My Life As a Beach Boy by Mike Love – review
Humility and ego characterise these two warring sides of the Beach Boys story
‘Are we there yet?’: on the road with Beach Boy Brian Wilson
He has survived drug abuse, mental illness, a difficult childhood – and written some of the 20th century’s most sublime songs. We join him on an ambitious world tour
• Scroll down for an extract from Wilson’s new memoir
August 2016
New band of the week
New band of the week: Pavo Pavo (No 117) wistful, retro pop harks back to the 70s
Bittersweet romances and the passage of time are themes reflected in the mysterious, vintage, modern-rock sound of five friends from Brooklyn
July 2016
Pitchfork festival review – jazz, psychedelia and humping clowns
Reflecting the way discerning listeners are becoming ever more eclectic, the festival laid on a bewildering variety of bands from Savages to Sun Ra Arkestra
