The Beach Boys

The Beach Boys are an American rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their friend Al Jardine. Distinguished by their vocal harmonies, adolescent-oriented lyrics, and musical ingenuity, they are one of the most influential acts of the rock era. The group drew on the music of older pop vocal groups, 1950s rock and roll, and black R&B to create their unique sound. Under Brian's direction, they often incorporated classical or jazz elements and pioneered unconventional recording techniques in innovative ways. They formed as a garage band centered on Brian's songwriting and managed by the Wilsons' father, Murry. Jardine was briefly replaced by David Marks during 1962–1963. In 1962, they landed their first national hit with "Surfin' Safari", beginning a string of hit singles that reflected a southern California youth culture of surfing, cars, and romance, dubbed the "California sound". They were one of the few American rock bands to sustain their commercial standing during the British Invasion. 1965 saw the addition of Bruce Johnston to the band, as well as Brian's move away from beach-going themes for more introspective lyrics and ambitious studio productions. In 1966, the Pet Sounds album and "Good Vibrations" single raised the group's prestige as rock innovators; both are now widely considered to be among the greatest and most influential works in popular music history. After shelving the Smile album in 1967, Brian gradually ceded control of the group to his bandmates. In the late 1960s, the group's commercial momentum faltered in the U.S., and they were frequently dismissed by the early rock music press. Rebranding themselves in the early 1970s, Blondie Chaplin and Ricky Fataar of the Flames briefly joined their lineup while Johnston left the band before rejoining in the late 1970s. Carl took over as de facto leader until the mid-1970s, when the band responded to the growing success of their live shows and greatest hits compilations by becoming an oldies touring act. Brian would return as producer for 15 Big Ones (1976) and The Beach Boys Love You (1977) after which his contributions again became sporadic. Dennis drowned in 1983, and Brian became estranged from the group in the late 1990s. Following Carl's death from lung cancer in 1998, Jardine left the band while Love was granted legal rights to tour under the group's name and continued performing with Johnston and, occasionally, Marks. In the early 2010s, the surviving original members, alongside Marks and Johnston, briefly reunited for the album That's Why God Made the Radio (2012) and a 50th anniversary tour. Brian died in 2025 of respiratory arrest. The Beach Boys are one of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful bands of all time, selling over 100 million records worldwide. They helped legitimize popular music as a recognized art form, and influenced the development of music genres and movements such as psychedelia, power pop, progressive rock, punk, alternative, and lo-fi. Between the 1960s and 2020s, the group had 37 songs reach the U.S. Top 40 of the Billboard Hot 100 (the most by an American band), with four topping the chart. In 2004, the group was ranked number 12 on Rolling Stone's list of the greatest artists of all time, the highest ranking of any American band. Many critics' polls have ranked Surfer Girl (1963), The Beach Boys Today! (1965), Pet Sounds, Smiley Smile, Wild Honey (both 1967), Friends (1968), Sunflower (1970), Surf's Up (1971), and the archival compilation box set The Smile Sessions (2011) among the finest albums in history. The founding members were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.