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Factsheet

• Formed the Beach Boys with brothers Carl and Dennis, cousin Mike Love and friend Al Jardine.
• Deaf in his right ear since he was a child.
• Taught himself to play piano.
• Wrote the music for such classics as "California Girls," "Fun, Fun, Fun," "God Only Knows," "Good Vibrations" and "Surfin' Safari."
• Although considered one of the architects of surfin' music, never  actually surfed.
• Retired from touring in 1965 to concentrate on recording.
• Was inspired to create the Beach Boys' classic Pet Sounds by the Beatles' Revolver; Pet Sounds in turn inspired the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
• Father of Carnie and Wendy Wilson (two-thirds of the pop group Wilson Phillips).
• Suffered a mental breakdown while recording Smile, the Beach Boys' follow-up to Pet Sounds. He wouldn't finish the album until 2004, when he recorded and released it as a solo artist.
• Developed schizoaffective disorder in his mid-20s. 
• Underwent extensive therapy during the mid-1970s and again during the '80s with controversial psychotherapist Eugene Landy.
• Met his future wife Melinda in 1986 when she sold him a car. 
• At one time had at least 16 dogs.