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| Brian Wilson 1942-2025 |
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After weathering difficult storms, rock's tortured genius
eventually found the sun - and a new generation of fans.
By Rachel DeSantis in People
e was a hero to Paul McCartney and had an ear for music that was so sharp Bob Dylan once quipped it should be willed to the Smithsonian. And to his dedicated fans, Brian Wilson was the genius who channeled the sun-kissed California of his youth into feel-good pop that's kept the good vibrations going for more than 60 years. When the Beach Boys cofounder died on June 11 at age 82 after being diagnosed with an unspecified neurocognitive disorder, he left behind a larger-than-life legacy that saw both his highs (his otherworldly knack for crafting lush harmonies and arrangements) and lows, including the years he spent as a recluse struggling with mental illness. "Anyone who came in contact with Brian was highly influenced by him because he took the same notes that everybody else has and made a new musical language out of them," says his bandmate Al Jardine. "He was funny, savvy -- and very humble."
Wilson's story began with a difficult childhood in Hawthorne, Calif., during which his dad, Murry -- later the Beach Boys' manager -- once beat him so hard it caused deafness in his right ear. He and younger brothers Carl and Dennis teamed up with cousin Mike Love and pals Al Jardine and David Marks for their debut Beach Boys album, Surfin' Safari, in 1962. The clean-cut boys singing about pretty girls and groovy cars marked a shift in the culture, though Wilson later showed off a deeper side with albums like 1966's Pet Sounds, which is considered one of the greatest records of all time. Despite success and acclaim (the group has sold more than 100 million albums and notched more than 30 Top 40 hits), Wilson couldn't escape his chronic depression. For 20 years the musician, often described as sensitive and withdrawn, struggled with drugs, alcohol and his weight. In 1975, some 10 years after he quit touring following a nervous breakdown, he began working with Dr. Eugene Landy, a psychologist who all but took over Wilson's life with unorthodox treatment methods. "I've been through a great deal of anguish," WIlson told People in 1983.
It was his second wife, Melinda (they wed in 1995), who helped free him from Landy's grip and finally found peace. Wilson and Melinda adapted five children, and the star patched up his chilly relationship with older daughters Carnie, 57, and Wendy, 55, of Wilson Phillips fame.
Still, Wilson's love for music never faded. In the past year Jardine visited his old friend every few months with the Brian Wilson Band. "His family surrounded him right to the end," says Jardine. Though Wilson couldn't participate in jam sessions, it was clear that the "little parties" brought him happiness. "I've carried a lot of weight on my shoulders -- a heavy load," Wilson told Rolling Stone in 2015. "For me, music is about love. Love is the message I want to share. That makes the hard work worth it." 
| A Deep Dive Into 'Jaws' |
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A terrifying classic turns 50.
By Jen Juneau in People
aws left an entire generation petrified to set foot in the ocean when it premiered 50 years ago on June 20, 1975. The story of a great white shark that made snacks of swimmers on fictional Amity Island "was tapping into a fear that we all have of the unknown," says Laurent Bouzereau, director of the new NatGeo documentary Jaws@50: The Definitive Inside Story. To mark the movie's milestone, we're looking back on the making of the fan-favorite film and it's lasting impact on pop culture.
Director Steven Spielberg was in over his head.
The complications of filming on the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Martha's Vineyard bloated the budget and extended the filming schedule by weeks. "We're not sailors, we were filmmakers," says Spielberg in Jaws@50. "Terrified" he'd be fired by Universal studio head Sid Sheinberg, who visited the set to take stock of the situation, Spielberg often vented to his mother, saying, "Mommy! This is really impossible. Help!"
The mechanical shark was a headache.
Lorraine Gary, who played Ellen, the wife of Amity Island police chief Martin Brody (Roy Schneider), recalls how the "failing" shark didn't function well and also "caused a lot of delay." The problems ultimately shifted the schedule: "All the interior scenes were first to be shot."
The haunting score resonated instantly.
"The album was huge," Bouzereau says of John Williams's iconic dun-dun music, which immediately cemented its place in soundtrack history. In fact, Bouzereau recalls how Spielberg was at a Baskin-Robbins the week Jaws came out, "and people were humming the score in line to get ice cream."
It launched the seasonal blockbuster.
Every summer now has its share of hyped, must-see-event movies, a trend Jaws ushered in. "It was Sid's idea to open huge in 400 theaters, which generally was not done," says Gary, who was married to Sheinberg. The strategy worked. Moviegoers lined up for Jaws, which Bouzereau chalks up to the film "putting a stake in" the summer season "pretty heavily."
Spielberg thought he'd get an Oscar nomination for best director.
While Spielberg, who was just 27 when he helmed Jaws, has earned two Academy Awards for best director in his career, he admits in Jaws@50 that he was "disappointed and surprised" not to get a nod for that film, which won three of the four Oscars it was nominated for in 1976 (except for best picture)."I was believing the noise, and you have to not," the filmmaker says.
Everyone's misquoting the movie.
If "I think we're gonna need a bigger boat" sounds familiar, it's because that's how folks often (mis)quote the line from the movie. What Chief Brody actually says to salty shark hunter Quint (Robert Shaw) after realizing the strength and size of the apex predator: "You're gonna need a bigger boat."
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