What Happened to The Beach Boys? Inside the Lives of the Band’s Founding Members and Biggest Stars

Nicole Briese, Jordana Comiter, Emily BlackwoodFri, October 2, 2026 at 12:30 PM UTC

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The Beach Boys in 1964.Credit: Gems/Redferns/Getty -

The Beach Boys became one of the most legendary rock bands of all time following their rise to fame in the 1960s

The band was founded by brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, along with their cousin Mike Love and friend Al Jardine

The Wilson brothers have died in the years since

It’s been over 60 years since The Beach Boys released their debut album Surfin’ Safari. A year later, “Surfin’ U.S.A.” catapulted them to a level of stardom they admittedly never saw coming.

“I just wanted to make records,” founding member Brian Wilson recalled in an April 2007 interview of signing with Capitol Records in 1962. “I didn’t know how big it would get. I didn’t think it would.”

The rock band was founded in 1961 by brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson, along with their cousin Mike Love and friend Al Jardine. After getting signed, the group went on to score 15 top 10 hits on the Billboard 100, including “Surfin’ U.S.A.,” “Kokomo,” “I Get Around” and “California Girls” between 1962 and 2021. The five founding members were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, followed by a Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001, per Rolling Stone.

Over the decades, the Wilson brothers have all unfortunately died. Dennis died in 1983, followed by Carl in 1998, after which Love secured an exclusive license to tour under The Beach Boys name, per Billboard. Dozens of musicians have since joined the touring lineup, including actor John Stamos and Glen Campbell, who temporarily replaced Brian on tour in the mid-‘60s.

Brian became the last of the Wilson brothers to die when his family announced his death at age 82 in June 2025.

From their personal lives to their careers, here’s everything to know about what happened to The Beach Boys and where their founding and current members are now.

Brian Wilson

Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys.Credit: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty ; Al Pereira/Getty

The oldest of the Wilson brothers, Brian was born on June 20, 1942, in Inglewood, Calif., to Murry and Audree Wilson, and grew up in Hawthorne, Calif. According to Murry, an aspiring musician who served as the Beach Boys’ manager from 1961 to 1964, his first-born son showed a gift for music from as young as 2 years old, repeating melodies he’d only heard once and reacting to music. As Brian grew older, he also began to play the piano.

Together with his brothers Dennis and Carl, his cousin Love and friend Jardine, Brian formed The Beach Boys, serving as a songwriter, vocalist, bassist and keyboardist for the group. Their first single, “Surfin’,” was recorded in 1961 and earned the group a seven-year record deal with Capitol Records in 1962.

Though he performed with the band for the first few years, Brian pulled back to become a full-time studio artist in 1964. He became more and more reclusive from there, and in 1982, the bass player nearly died from a drug overdose, at which point the band forced him to get help. “​​’How did I survive? God only knows,” he told the Daily Mail in July 2015.

He did not play with the group again until 2012 for the 50th anniversary.

Brian was married twice in his lifetime. He was first wed to Marilyn Wilson Rutherford (née Rovell), with whom he shares daughters Carnie and Wendy Wilson of Wilson Phillips, from 1964 to 1979. He later married Melinda Ledbetter in 1995, and together, the couple adopted five children: Dakotah Rose, Daria Rose, Delanie Rae, Dylan and Dash.

The songwriter’s life got the silver screen treatment with the release of 2015’s Love & Mercy, a biopic starring John Cusack and Elizabeth Banks based on Brian’s struggles with mental illness over the course of two decades. “Music is his first love,” Melinda reportedly told Banks ahead of the film’s release, per ABC News. “Nothing can replace it.” She added: “So I’m settling for second.”

The vocalist followed up the film with the release of a 2016 autobiography, I Am Brian Wilson, in which he revealed that music served as an escape from “voices” he began to hear in his head after taking LSD for the first time in the ‘60s.

In June 2022, the musician celebrated his 80th birthday, which was marked by tributes from musicians including Elton John and Smokey Robinson.

In January 2024, he announced on Instagram that his wife Melinda had died at age 77, writing, “Melinda, my beloved wife of 28 years, passed away this morning.” Nearly a year later, on June 11, Brian’s family announced that he had also died.

The Beach Boys honored Brian’s legacy in February 2026 when they released We Gotta Groove: The Brother Studio Years, a 73-track box set featuring music he made in 1976 and 1977, per Rolling Stone Australia.

Dennis Wilson

Dennis Wilson of The Beach Boys.Credit: Earl leaf/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty ; Michael Putland/Getty

The middle child of Murry and Audree Wilson, Dennis was born on Dec. 4, 1944.

Unlike his big brother, who took to singing in school, Dennis was slower to display his musical talents. “[He] was the last one to really participate,” Audree said in 1978’s The Beach Boys and the California Myth, adding, “He started playing the piano when he was 14 . . . and all of a sudden, he was playing boogie-woogie.”

According to the Guardian, Audree forced Brian to include Dennis in his band. “Mike Love never wanted me in the band,” Dennis later confirmed to Rolling Stone. “Brian didn’t either.”

Dennis remained with the group until the late ‘70s, contributing songs like “Little Bird” before his drug and alcohol use reportedly began to affect his relationship with his bandmates and he was kicked out of the group, per Rolling Stone. He released one solo album, Pacific Ocean Blue, in 1977.

His personal relationships were also tumultuous: Dennis was married five times, to Carol Freedman, with whom he shared daughter Jennifer and son Scott, from 1965 to 1967; Barbara Charren, with whom he welcomed sons Michael and Carl, from 1970 to 1974; Karen Lamm from 1976 to 1977 and again from 1978 to 1980; and Shawn Marie Love in 1983, whom he married six months before his death and shared son Gage with.

He also dated Fleetwood Mac‘s Christine McVie for nearly three years, even living in her Coldwater Canyon home. “Dennis walked into the studio one night and whisked me off my feet,” McVie told Rolling Stone.

In later years, Dennis also shared a home with Charles Manson. “Dennis was all too happy to allow Manson and his girls to move in, use his charge cards, take his clothes, eat his food, even drive his Mercedes,” Love wrote of his cousin, who estimated that Dennis lost about $100,000 to the group and was forced to move out of his home, in his 2016 memoir Good Vibrations.

According to Love, Dennis felt extreme guilt over introducing Manson to producer Terry Melcher, who lived at the Tate home prior to the murders.

On Dec. 28, 1983, Dennis died of drowning. In 1988, he was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His work also resurfaced on We Gotta Groove, which included a new mix of “Holy Man,” a song he originally wrote and recorded for his 1977 solo album Pacific Ocean Blue, featuring vocals from Carl, per Pitchfork.

Carl Wilson

Carl Wilson of The Beach Boys.Credit: Earl Leaf/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty ; Martyn Goodacre/Getty

The youngest Wilson brother was born in L.A. on Dec. 21, 1946. He joined the Beach Boys as a teenager after taking guitar lessons with his neighbor and future bandmate, David Marks.

“David and I were about 12,” Carl recalled to Guitar.com in 1982 of his first instrument training.

In addition to creating the group’s now-famed guitar riffs, Carl lent his voice to some of the group’s biggest hits over the years, including “God Only Knows,” “Kokomo” and “Good Vibrations”—something Brian encouraged early on. “Brian would make me, my mom and Mike sing the harmonies he had figured out,” Carl recalled.

The musician, who recorded the group’s first single, “Surfin,” at age 14, later produced a good chunk of the band’s albums in the period between the late 1960s and early 1970s, when Brian was more removed from the group.

Though he briefly left the Beach Boys in the early ‘80s to explore a solo career, releasing 1981’s Carl Wilson and 1983’s Youngblood, Carl returned by 1983.

In 1988, the youngest Wilson son was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with Brian, Love, Jardine and his late brother Dennis.

The drummer married Annie Hinsche, the sister of Beach Boys touring member Billy Hinsche, who died of cancer at the age of 70, from 1966 to 1982. Prior to his own death, the guitarist shared sons Jonah and Justyne with Annie. He was also married to Gina Martin from 1987 to 1998.

Carl died on Feb. 7, 1998 at the age of 51 from complications of lung cancer, per The New York Times. His vocals can also be heard on We Gotta Groove, including a newly released mix of Dennis’ “Holy Man” and the previously unreleased “Carl’s Song 2 (Angel Come Home),” per Pitchfork.

Mike Love

Mike Love of The Beach Boys.Credit: RB/Redferns ; Kevin Winter/Getty

Born in L.A. on March 15, 1941, and raised near his cousins in Baldwin Hills, Love was surrounded by music growing up, with a grand piano, an organ and a harp in his home. “My mom was an avid music fan. She sang light opera. She woke us up to go to school with opera music,” Love told the Tampa Bay Timesin February 2023. “I can’t remember a time when there wasn’t music in my life.”

When the band signed their record deal in 1962, Love, who has jokingly referred to himself as the “old man in the group“ to PEOPLE in June 2018, was 21 years old.

As the group’s lead singer and the only Beach Boys member to remain a constant from its inception, Love co-wrote many of the band’s hits — a fact he successfully sued Brian over authorship credit in the early ‘90s, gaining songwriting credits to 35 songs along with a settlement of $5 million.

“There was always the perception that my cousin Brian did all the writing as well as the producing and stuff like that. That was not true,” Love told the Herald-Tribune in February 2019. “I was the co-author of so many of the big hits.”

Love continued to tour under the Beach Boys name, with Brian joining him for the group’s 50th anniversary in 2012.

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Additionally, he has released four solo albums and a memoir, Good Vibrations, which was published in 2016 and revealed many details about his cousin’s relationship with Manson. “Neither Dennis nor I nor anyone associated with the Beach Boys had any idea that Manson was involved in these murders,” Love wrote.

Married five times over to Francie St. Martin (1961 to 1963), Suzanne Belcher (1965 to 1968), Tamara Fitch (1971 to 1977), Catherine Linda Martinez (1981 to 1984) and Jacquelyne Piesen (1994), Love has at least seven children, two of whom he shares with Piesen. Shawn Marie Love, who was married to Dennis in 1983, has claimed to be Mike’s illegitimate child, which he has denied, per Rolling Stone.

Love has continued touring with the Beach Boys, though the group canceled shows in September 2026 to give the 85-year-old singer time to “recharge,” per Entertainment Weekly.

Al Jardine

Al Jardine of The Beach Boys.Credit: RB/Redferns ; Scott Dudelson/Getty

Born in Lima, Ohio, on Sept. 3, 1942, and raised in Hawthorne, Calif., with the rest of his bandmates, Jardine, who reportedly had a strong interest in the banjo, pushed for a more folksy Beach Boys sound, but was overruled by the rest of the band.

Though the rhythm guitarist was featured on the group’s first single, “Surfin’.” Having auditioned as a group for Jardine’s mom to get the money to record it, he left the band by the time they signed with Capitol, according to Becoming the Beach Boys, 1961-1963, as he believed there was no future in the business, per Cleveland.com

He returned to the group upon Marks’ departure in 1963 and toured with the group for much of the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s. He also sang lead on the group’s No. 1 hit, “Help Me Rhonda.” Jardine left the band once more in 1998, shortly after Carl’s death.

Jardine wed Lynda Sperry, with whom he shares children Matthew Alan and Adam, from 1964 to 1982. He remarried Mary Ann Helmandollar in 1983, per UPI. Jardine is also the father of Robert and Andrew.

The musician authored a children’s book, Sloop John B: A Pirate’s Tale, in 2005,and released one solo album, A Postcard From California, in 2010. In 2012, Jardine worked with Brian, Mike, Bruce and David to create a new album, That’s Why God Made the Radio, and joined his bandmates on the group’s 50th-anniversary reunion tour. He also headed out on the road with Brian for the 50th anniversary of Pet Sounds in 2016.

He continues to perform his own music on tour with the Pet Sounds Band, named after the Beach Boys’ landmark album, through 2026, per Rolling Stone Australia. He also released the three-track single “Islands in the Sun,” featuring his son and fellow Beach Boy Bruce Johnston.

David Marks

David Marks of The Beach Boys.Credit: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty ; Jon Super/Redferns

Marks, who was born on Aug. 22, 1948, moved in across the street from the Wilsons in Hawthorne when he was 7 years old. At 10, he started taking lessons from John Maus of the Walker Brothers with Carl using a guitar his parents reportedly got for Christmas in 1958, per the Daily Voice.

It wasn’t until 1962, however, that he joined the Beach Boys, taking over for Jardine on rhythm guitar.

Though Marks can be heard on the group’s earliest releases, including “Surfin’ Safari,” “Surfin’ U.S.A.,” “Surfer Girl” and “Little Deuce,” he is not featured on the group’s first single, “Surfin.’” He also left the group early on in 1963 due to disagreements with Murry.

Following his split from the Beach Boys, Marks continued to perform with other acts, even forming his own band, The Marksmen, which became one of the first groups to be signed to A&M records.

He also reportedly studied classical guitar at the Berklee College of Music and the New England Conservatory.

In the late ‘90s, Marks returned to tour with the group when Carl, who was ill with cancer, was unable to tour. He faced his own health issues in 1999, however, while dealing with hepatitis C, which he publicly struggled with until 2004, per the BBC.

In 2007, he published an autobiography titled The Lost Beach Boy: The True Story of David Marks. As of 2012, he was living with his wife Carrieann and his stepson in North Salem.

Marks has reflected on his Beach Boys tenure, telling Guitar Worldin June 2026 that his difficult relationship with Murry was what drove him to quit. “I was a child. I didn’t understand the business,” he explained. “I wanted to party, and Murray wanted to form a corporation with just the family.”

Bruce Johnston

Bruce Johnston of The Beach Boys.Credit: GAB Archive/Redferns ; Scott Dudelson/Getty

Bruce Johnston was born in Peoria, Ill., on June 27, 1942, at the Florence Crittenton Home and was later adopted by a wealthy Chicago family, per the Journal Star.

Having joined the Beach Boys in 1965, Johnston, who studied classical piano, missed out on much of the group’s early success, but the singer-songwriter was pursuing music long before he became a member, playing and arranging on Sandy Nelson’s song “Teen Beat” as a high school student. In 1960, he began producing at Del-Fi Records.

Johnston first appeared on the Beach Boys’ “California Girls” in 1965. “I was the new guy!” he told PEOPLE in June 2018 while discussing the track. “That was one of the first ones I recorded.”

He went full steam ahead with the group from there. “When I joined the band, we made and released three albums in 11 months,” he reportedly told Rock Cellar in 2013.

The singer left the group in 1972 to pursue his solo career, which yielded three solo albums a Grammy for his work on 1977’s Barry Manilow tune, “I Write the Songs.”

He also became a dad: In 1976, Johnston married his wife, Harriet Johnston, and the couple went on to welcome four children: Ozzie, Justin, Ryan and Max, per his IMDb.

Johnston returned to the Beach Boys in 1978 at the request of Brian and has continued to perform with various iterations of the band throughout the years.

In 2022, Johnston was credited as a writer and producer on The Weeknd‘s track “Here We Go…Again.” He also told the L.A. Times at the time that he had recorded with more material with Rex and Skrillex, saying, “These guys, it’s like the Wrecking Crew in the 21st century.”

Later that year, Johnston and Love also collaborated with LOCASH on their single “Beach Boys,” which Love helped to co-write. After more than 60 years with the Beach Boys, Johnston stepped away from the group’s touring lineup in March 2026 to refocus on songwriting.

“Now is the time to get serious again,” he said in a statement to Rolling Stone of returning his attention to writing music.

Ricky Fataar

Ricky Fataar of The Beach Boys.Credit: RB/Redferns ; Clayton Call/Redferns

Born in Durban, South Africa, on Sept. 5, 1952, Ricky Fataar honed his musical chops early in life. From the time he was 9 years old until the time he was 18, the performer played in his hometown band, The Flames, with his brothers, Steve and Edries Fataar.

He first encountered the Beach Boys in 1969, when The Flames caught Jardine’s eye during one their London performances. By that point, fellow South African singer Blondie Chaplin had joined the group, and the band released one album, The Flame, under the Beach Boys label, Brother Records. The group broke up after the album came out, however, and Chaplin and Ricky were then officially asked to join the Beach Boys.

Together, the new group members worked on tracks such as “Here She Comes, and “Hold on Dear Brother,” which they co-wrote for the Beach Boys’ 1972 release, Carl and the Passions - “So Tough.”

Since his departure from the group in 1974, Fataar has continued to work with top musicians in the business, including Bonnie Raitt, whom he has been working with since 1979.

Fataar was once married to model Penelope Tree, with whom he shares daughter Paloma Fataar. He later tied the knot with Robin Wiliams’ ex-wife Valerie Velardi, with whom he shares daughter Francesca Fataar.

Blondie Chaplin

Blondie Chaplin of The Beach Boys.Credit: RB/Redferns ; Scott Dudelson/Getty

South African singer and guitarist Chaplin also got his start with The Flames, which he joined at the age of 13 and stuck with through the mid-to-late ‘60s. After releasing an album on the Beach Boys’ label, he and Fataar were asked to join the group by manager Jack Rieley.

Though Chaplin was admittedly intimidated at first, Carl set his mind at ease. “Carl was a good help in making sure we were comfortable,” he told Goldminein March 2023.

While the musician played on two Beach Boys albums — 1972’s Carl and the Passions — “So Tough” and 1973’s Holland, which featured Chaplin’s vocals on “Sail on Sailor,” he left the group in ‘73 following a dispute with Love’s brother Stephen. “We were on a long tour and I got into an altercation with one of the guy’s brothers,” Chaplin told Rolling Stone in October 2013. “I just said, “Forget it, I don’t need this stuff.”

Following his departure from the group, Chaplin worked with musicians such as The Rolling Stones, for which he served as a backing vocalist, percussionist and guitar player, Raitt and more. In 2015, he reunited with Brian for the songwriter’s album No Pier Pressure, on which he is featured as a vocalist. He also joined him on his 2016 Pet Sounds 50th Anniversary Tour, touring with the musician through 2022.

After Brian’s death, Chaplin joined an all-star tribute to his former bandmate and the Beach Boys in July 2025, per Classic Rock and Culture.

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