Carl Wilson

Carl Dean Wilson (December 21, 1946 – February 6, 1998) was an American musician who co-founded <a href="/facts/The_Beach_Boys/6CdaMJwW">the Beach Boys</a>. He was their lead guitarist, the youngest sibling of bandmates <a href="/facts/Brian_Wilson/lHqBFEUI">Brian</a> and <a href="/facts/Dennis_Wilson/1xrQgFYb">Dennis</a>, and the group's <a href="/facts/De_facto/3Du6WQKh">de facto</a> leader in the early to mid-1970s. He was also the band's musical director on stage from 1965 until his death.
Influenced by the guitar playing of <a href="/facts/Chuck_Berry/PgK6bJLf">Chuck Berry</a> and <a href="/facts/The_Ventures/WJSxfm7M">the Ventures</a>, Wilson's initial role in the group was that of lead guitarist and backing singer, but he performed lead vocals on several of their later hits, including "<a href="/facts/God_Only_Knows/TrSmen0c">God Only Knows</a>" (1966), "<a href="/facts/Good_Vibrations/6mNKnS9M">Good Vibrations</a>" (1966), "<a href="/facts/I_Can_Hear_Music/zyCmmVJK">I Can Hear Music</a>" (1969), and "<a href="/facts/Kokomo_(song)/RVu6sQ1B">Kokomo</a>" (1988). Unlike other members of the band, he often played alongside the <a href="/facts/Session_musician/Belq3KCo">studio musicians</a> employed during the group's critical and commercial peak in the mid-1960s. After Brian's reduced involvement with the group, Carl produced the bulk of their albums between <a href="/facts/20/20_(The_Beach_Boys_album)/3ECLNDoS">20/20</a> (1969) and <a href="/facts/Holland_(album)/Jp36Gfxk">Holland</a> (1973). Concurrently, he spent several years challenging his <a href="/facts/Conscription/SstkxdBk">draft status</a> as a <a href="/facts/Conscientious_objector/ovN3dAja">conscientious objector</a>.
During the 1980s, Wilson attempted to launch a solo career, releasing the albums <a href="/facts/Carl_Wilson_(album)/hPhmdlxA">Carl Wilson</a> (1981) and <a href="/facts/Youngblood_(Carl_Wilson_album)/w1jJFyeT">Youngblood</a> (1983). In the 1990s, he recorded material with <a href="/facts/Gerry_Beckley/smf3kcn7">Gerry Beckley</a> and <a href="/facts/Robert_Lamm/snb3pW4M">Robert Lamm</a>, later released for the posthumous album <a href="/facts/Like_a_Brother/gU8od76K">Like a Brother</a> (2000). He was inducted into the <a href="/facts/Rock_and_Roll_Hall_of_Fame/6hRagsTD">Rock and Roll Hall of Fame</a> as a member of the Beach Boys in 1988. Wilson was also a member of the <a href="/facts/Movement_of_Spiritual_Inner_Awareness/SjV2g1PM">Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness</a>, a <a href="/facts/Religious_corporation/DK9Gdgsn">religious corporation</a>. He died in early 1998, aged 51, of <a href="/facts/Lung_cancer/LHLdR454">lung cancer</a>.

Carl Wilson open-in-new

Carl Wilson