Bruce Springsteen shares emotional tribute to “maestro” Brian Wilson
24 hours after the news of Brian Wilson‘s passing broke, Bruce Springsteen has shared an emotional tribute to the late Beach Boys frontman.
Currently, no cause of death has been revealed for Wilson, who was put into a conservatorship last year due to his battle with dementia. His children announced his passing on social media, writing: “We are heartbroken to announced that our beloved father Brian Wilson has passed away. We are at a loss for words right now.”
Taking to social media to react to the monumental loss, the ‘Born in the USA’ singer began his tribute, writing, “Brian Wilson was the most musically inventive voice in all of pop, with an otherworldly ear for harmony. He was also the visionary leader of America’s greatest band, The Beach Boys.”
He continued, “If there’d been no Beach Boys, there would have been no “Racing In The Street.” Listen to “Summer’s Gone” from The Beach Boys’ last album “That’s Why God Made The Radio” and weep.”
Springsteen signed off with an emotional goodbye, stating, “Farewell, Maestro. Nothing but love and a lovely lasting debt from all of us over here on E Street.” He signed off simply with his name.
Springsteen first met Wilson in 2007, as recounted by Wilson in his memoir. He wrote, “I was playing a benefit show at the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank, New Jersey. The whole time we were playing our show, there was a guy sitting in a folding chair on the side of the stage.”
Upon realising that that man was indeed ‘The Boss’, the pair “hung out for a little while.” Springsteen was already brimming with praise, describing his material as “American masterworks”. In 2015, Springsteen joined Wilson on stage to perform a special rendition of ‘Surfin’ USA’.
Springsteen’s praise doesn’t end there. The New Jersey hero appeared in the documentary Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road and said of the former Beach Boy: “[He] just took you out of where you were and took you to another place.”
Wilson is survived by his two children, Carnie and Wendy, who he shared with his first wife, Marilyn Rovell. He also adopted five children with his late second wife, Melinda Ledbetter, who he married in 1995.
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