When Brian Wilson accidentally insulted Don Henley: “Some people would have been mad”
As the old adage goes, they say never meet your heroes.
While having an encounter with one of your idols is something people dream about, the downside is that opening up a conversation also opens up the risk of disappointment, or, in the case of Don Henley, even insult.
The thing with the God tier is that once we put someone up there, their word feels like gospel. Amongst the ranks of the best musicians around, we begin to see their thoughts and opinions as the be-all and end-all. We give them the potential to raise others up to the same tier by backing them and complementing them. But we also allow them the power to smite people down.
It has led to some truly heartwarming goddamn moments where huge icons like Paul McCartney or Carole King have passed on their praise to the younger generations, talking about names like Phoebe Bridgers and Taylor Swift as if they’re next in line for the lineage of heroes. But it has also resulted in some passionate feuds when newer acts are insulted by their elders.
To be insulted by Brian Wilson is something you especially wouldn’t get over all that quickly. Wilson seems to exist on a whole new realm of respect as an idol that other idols worship too. McCartney loved him, Dylan loved him. Simon and Garfunkel both came to adore him. It’s tough to find another musician who doesn’t as his contributions to The Beach Boys have rightfully been recognised as not just amazing songs, but truly culture-shaping stuff where suddenly pop music felt like a bigger and bolder thing.
Everyone was enamoured, and Henley was no different. Backstage at a show one night, the Eagles singer suddenly descended into nothing but a fan boy as they shared a bill. Cautiously approaching Wilson with his own copy of Pet Sounds, Henley was hoping for a sweet message.
“I took a Sharpie from the table in the dressing room,” Wilson wrote in his memoir, I Am Brian Wilson. “There are always Sharpies around for signing things. I wrote on his record, ‘To Don: thanks for all the great songs. Brian Wilson.’” See, now that’s a sweet story! That’s a dream interaction and perhaps the perfect outcome of a risky meeting of a hero. “Don was so grateful. It was almost like he couldn’t talk,” Wilson recalled as the Eagles singer, despite his own fame and flory, was on cloud nine from the praise from one of his biggest inspirations.
But of course, that’s not the end of the story. A perfect case of taking a sweet moment and making it sour, Wilson called him back. “He turned to leave. ‘Hey Don,’ I said. ‘Wait a second,’” Wilson recalled, “I took the record back, crossed out ‘great,’ and wrote ‘good’.”
Ouch. How do you move past that? How do you get over your hero deciding his compliment about your work was too nice? Clearly keen to knock Henley down a peg merely a second after boosting his ego, Wilson wouldn’t let that happen.
Henley was gracious, though. While others might have cried or started a fight, Wilson said, “Some people would have been mad, but Don just looked at it and laughed.” Perhaps he simply decided to take it as motivation, resolving to go off and work harder so that next time they might meet again, he’d deserve that ‘great’.
