Brian Wilson

Primarily known for his role as composer, writer and co-front man in the legendary band The Beach Boys, Brian Wilson has also proven himself as a talented solo musician in his own right. He struggled with drug addiction and mental illness throughout his life, causing tension within The Beach Boys and ultimately causing Wilson to leave the band he founded and enter into extreme and isolated psychotherapy. By 1988, after a lengthy stint with a highly controversial and eventually discredited psychologist, Wilson had begun his solo career with moderate success. However, with the release of Smile, an album conceived by Wilson 37 years prior, when he was still primary writer for The Beach Boys, Wilson gained mass critical and commercial acclaim. Since then, Wilson has embarked on several world tours, collaborated with countless respected artists, including David Byrne, Elton John and Paul Simon, and been inducted into the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame, which called him "one of the few genius undisputed geniuses in popular music."