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The family of Brian Wilson, the musical architect whose genius helped launch the Beach Boys, is seeking to place him under conservatorship following the death of his wife, Melinda, last month.
According to documents filed in Los Angeles Superior Court earlier this week by lawyers representing potential guardians, Mr. Wilson, 81, has “a significant neurocognitive disorder” and “is unable to adequately meet his personal needs for Physical Health”. Melinda Wilson had previously cared for her husband, but after her death on Jan. 30, the appointment of a guardian became necessary, according to the petition filed Wednesday.
In a declaration. The family said LeeAnn Hard, Mr. Wilson’s business manager, and Jean Sievers, his publicist and manager, would serve as co-conservators.
“This decision was made to ensure that there will be no extreme changes to the home and that Brian and the children living in the home will be cared for and remain in the home where they are cared for,” the statement said.
In an email to The New York Times, Sievers said Wilson had been “diagnosed with dementia.” She said that as co-guardian, she would “ensure that all of Brian’s daily living needs are met and that she continues to lead an active life.”
A hearing on the petition is scheduled for April 30.
Wilson, a revered founder of the Beach Boys, is widely recognized as a musical visionary who channeled an idealized notion of California into a chart-topping sound.
But the mental health challenges he faced along the way have also been well documented.
After suffering a nervous breakdown on a flight to Houston with the band in 1964, he abandoned touring to focus on recording, taking advantage of a period of explosive creativity that would help reshape the pop landscape with hits such as “Good vibrations”. At their peak, the Beach Boys and their music flooded the Top 40 with tunes that captured the energy and culture of sunny, vibrant Southern California and music meticulously orchestrated in the studio. An American counterweight to the Beatles, the band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.
But even as Wilson worked, his struggle with mental illness worsened. He became increasingly withdrawn after an ambitious album, “Smile,” flopped in 1967. He struggled with depression and was eventually diagnosed schizoaffective disorderwhich manifested itself in auditory hallucinations, among other symptoms. He also experimented with LSD and other drugs and began overeating and abusing alcohol. He retreated from public view and remained bedridden for long periods during the 1970s.
In the following years, Wilson began dating Melinda Kae Ledbetter, who would become his second wife. The couple met at a Los Angeles Cadillac dealership, where she was a salesperson, in a scene dramatized in the 2014 film “Love & Mercy.”
Mrs Wilson has said her future husband was struggling when she met him. Wilson had begun working with a psychotherapist, Eugene Landy, who is credited with helping lift his client from the depths of depression and substance abuse, and is also credited with inserting himself into many corners of creative life. and Wilson Financial.
Mr. Wilson’s relatives ultimately requested the creation of a prior guardianship that freed Mr. Wilson from Mr. Landy’s control. He married Melinda Ledbetter in 1995. They adopted five boysand Mr. Wilson credited him with helping him stabilize his life and career.
Toward the end of her life, Mrs. Wilson also served as her husband’s health care agent, according to court documents.
“Mrs. Wilson provided for Mr. Wilson’s daily living needs,” the document said, “as Mr. Wilson is unable to adequately meet his personal needs for physical health, food, clothing, or shelter.”
In 2021, the Beach Boys signed a blockbuster deal with Iconic Artists Group, selling most of the band’s intellectual property rights, including its trademarks and the rights to much of its music. Later that year, Wilson also sold his songwriting rights to Universal Music. The transaction was confidential, but was revealed the following year when his ex-wife, Marilyn Wilson-Rutherford, defendantsaying she was owed millions of dollars as a result of the terms of their divorce settlement.
Wilson has been on tour performing shows in 2022.