Paul McCartney pays tribute to Brian Wilson: “I loved him” 

Paul McCartney has shared a moving tribute to Brian Wilson, sharing his strong admiration for the late singer.

The post was shared by the Beatles legend on social media, following news that the legendary The Beach Boys singer died yesterday (June 11). He was aged 82.

After news of Wilson’s passing broke, fans were quick to recall the close bond the two artists had and the high praise McCartney had shared for the songwriter over the years.

Now, he has posted a moving tribute on Instagram and described the musician as someone he “loved”.

“Brian had that mysterious sense of musical genius that made his songs so achingly special,” he wrote in the caption, sharing a carousel of images. “The notes he heard in his head and passed to us were simple and brilliant at the same time. I loved him, and was privileged to be around his bright shining light for a little while.

“How we will continue without Brian Wilson, ‘God Only Knows’. Thank you, Brian.”

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A post shared by Paul McCartney (@paulmccartney)

Despite joking about a “rivalry” between The Beach Boys and The Beatles over the years, the two never had any bad blood between them, and frequently shared how they were inspired by one another’s songwriting skills.

McCartney has hailed the classic Beach Boys hit ‘God Only Knows’ as one of his favourite songs of all time, and shared how moved he was by the song as he inducted Wilson into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2000.

“It made me cry and I don’t quite know why. It wasn’t necessarily the words or the music, it’s just something so deep in it, that there’s only certain pieces of music that can do this to me,” he said. “I think it’s a sign of great genius to be able to do that with a bunch of music and a bunch of notes. And this man, he deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, that’s for sure.”

McCartney would go on to perform the song at a charity show in 2002, share more praise for Wilson’s songwriting ability in 2003 for the Charles Granata book Wouldn’t it Be Nice: Brian Wilson and the Making of the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds, and explain in a 2007 Radio 1 interview how performing with the artist made him “break down” in tears.

“It was just too much to stand there singing this song that does my head in and to stand there singing it with Brian,” he said. “So all it is, it’s little vibrations reaching your music, it’s only little vibrations, little words, and little things. There is this powerful effect, you know.”

McCartney would later share the anecdote again in an interview with The Rolling Stones‘ Ronnie Wood, and explain how moving he still finds the song, decades after he first heard it.

He also praised the ‘Pet Sounds’ album in an interview with Rick Rubin in 2021 – saying that it made The Beatles up their game and helped inspire ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’.

“Beach Boys, I think, was a big influence on our harmony. There was a little intercontinental rivalry – mainly Brian, his writing,” he shared. “I think he’d heard one of our albums and thought ‘I’ve got to do better’, and that was ‘Pet Sounds’, which I love and it’s still one of my big albums. So atmospheric and different, and yet it was The Beach Boys still.

“And we heard ‘Pet Sounds’ and thought ‘We gotta do something better than that.’ And so we did ‘Sgt. Pepper…’”.

Both McCartney and Wilson would join forces in the latter’s 2004 solo album ‘Gettin’ In Over My Head’ – working together on a song called ‘A Friend Like You’.

Other famous faces to have paid tribute to Brian Wilson include The Beatles’ drummer Ringo Starr, who simply said: “God bless Brian Wilson. Peace and love to all his family.”

Sean Ono Lennon – the son of John Lennon and Yoko Ono – also paid their respects online saying: “Anyone who really knows me knows how heartbroken I am about Brian Wilson passing.

“Not many people influenced me as much as he did. I feel very lucky that I was able to meet him and spend some time with him. He was always very kind and generous. He was our American Mozart. A one-of-a-kind genius from another world.”

Elton John shared a post that read: “Brian Wilson was always so kind to me from the day I met him… I grew to love him as a person, and for me, he was the biggest influence on my songwriting ever; he was a musical genius and revolutionary. He changed the goalposts when it came to writing songs and shaped music forever. A true giant.”

Bob Dylan, shared a tribute too, writing: “Heard the sad news about Brian today and thought about all the years I’ve been listening to him and admiring his genius. Rest in peace, dear Brian.”

You can find more tributes to the late artist here.

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