Brian Wilson's Peers Praise His 'Genius Magical Touch'

After Brian Wilson's death was announced Wednesday, his peers led the mourning by testifying to his groundbreaking musical talent. Bob Dylan posted that he was thinking "about all the years I've been listening to him and admiring his genius." Elton John called Wilson "the biggest influence on my songwriting ever." But the most famous mutual admiration involving Wilson began in the mid-1960s, when he and the Beatles engaged in what NPR points out has been called the greatest friendly rivalry in popular music. The groups pushed and inspired each other as they traded sensational albums. In 1966, the Beach Boys released Pet Sounds, which included "God Only Knows," a song Paul McCartney later said "reduces me to tears every time I hear it," per Consequence of Sound. The Beatles answered with Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which Beatles producer George Martin said wouldn't have been possible without Pet Sounds, per the New York Times. "It was Pet Sounds that blew me out of the water," McCartney later said. "I figure no one is educated musically 'til they've heard that album."

Other reaction to the loss of Brian Wilson, per the AP, KTLA, Rolling Stone, and Billboard, came from:

• Nancy Sinatra: "His cherished music will live forever. ... One of the biggest thrills of my life was singing 'California Girls' with Brian."
• Questlove: "I know Orbison is the king of emo, but man if there was a human being who made art out of inexpressible sadness ... damn it was Brian Wilson."
• Al Jardine: "You were a humble giant who always made me laugh and we will celebrate your music forever."
• Micky Dolenz: "Brian Wilson was a musical and spiritual giant. His melodies shaped generations, & his soul resonated in every note."
• John Stamos: "He heard things no one else could hear. He felt things deeper than most of us ever will. And somehow, he turned all of that into music that wrapped itself around the world and made us all feel less alone."
• Mick Fleetwood: "Anyone with a musical bone in their body must be grateful for Brian Wilson's genius magical touch."

• Elton John: "He was a musical genius and revolutionary. He changed the goalposts when it came to writing songs and shaped music forever."
• John Cale: "To me, Brian Wilson was not merely about surf music, rather a true musical genius toiling away at melding POP into startling sophistication."
• Randy Bachman: "We lost one of the greatest composers and messengers who took jazz harmony, put it to a Chuck Berry beat and made a new genre of music."
• Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: "Thanks to the imagination, vision, and production gifts of Brian Wilson, the 1988 Inductees, the Beach Boys reinvented the possibilities for pop music. Wilson combined his love for vocal group harmonies with Chuck Berry-style rock & roll, captured California's beach culture, and defined 'surf music' for the world, while also extending his ambitions with sophisticated arrangements and heart-wrenching ballads like 'In My Room.' ... Classic compositions including 'Good Vibrations' and 'God Only Knows' are widely considered to be among the greatest recordings of all time."

(More Brian Wilson stories.)