Melinda and Brian Wilson (Photo from Brian Wilson’s Facbook page)
Melinda Ledbetter Wilson, the wife of Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson for the past 28 years, died this morning (Jan. 30, 2024). Wilson posted an announcement on social media:
“My heart is broken. Melinda, my beloved wife of 28 years, passed away this morning.
Our five children and I are just in tears.
We are lost.
Melinda was more than my wife. She was my savior.
She gave me the emotional security I needed to have a career.
She encouraged me to make the music that was closest to my heart.
She was my anchor. She was everything for us. Please say a prayer for her.
Love and Mercy
Brian”
Melinda and Brian Wilson’s children also posted, writing in part that she was “a force of nature and one of the strongest women you could come by. She was not only a model, our fathers savior, and a mother, she was a woman empowered by her spirit with a mission to better everyone she touched.” Her cause of death was not revealed.
Poster from Love & Mercy biopic
Melinda Wilson, who was 77 at the time of her death, married Brian in 1995 during a tumultuous time in his life when he was experiencing numerous mental health issues, which have been well-documented in books by and about Brian Wilson and in the 2014 biopic Love & Mercy, much of which is told from Ledbetter’s perspective. She is portrayed in the film by Elizabeth Banks, opposite John Cusack, who plays the older Brian Wilson. [The film is available here.] Brian Wilson turned 81 on June 20, 2023.
Born Melinda Kae Ledbetter on October 3, 1946, in Pueblo, Colo., she was working at a Cadillac dealership in 1986 when Brian Wilson came in. The two soon struck up a personal relationship, but it was thwarted by Brian’s then-therapist, Eugene Landy, who demanded that the rock star to stop seeing her. In 1992, when Landy was ordered to stop treating Wilson, Melinda took over his personal care, a role that she continued to serve even as the couple became romantically involved. (Brian divorced his first wife, Marilyn, in 1979.)
Related: Our interview with Brian Wilson
She also became more involved in Brian’s career decisions, not always to the satisfaction of Brian’s professional collaborators or family, who felt that her influence over him had become too pronounced.
Watch an interview with Brian and Melinda Wilson conducted by Larry King
Watch the Love & Mercy trailer
6 Comments so far
Jump into a conversationMy deepest condolences to Brian and his family. One would think that he had been through enough pain without having to suffer such a personal loss.
So shocked to see this.
Prayers to Brian , their children , family and friends.
Brian Wilson has certainly had his share of heartache over the years. This is one more to add to the list. It’s a sad, sad thing.
Love and Mercy to Brian Wilson and his Family.
Went to High School with Melinda at Sierra High School in Whittier Ca. She was a beautiful sweet girl.
Prayers to the Wilson family in the loss of Brian’s wife.