Brian Wilson, the creative force behind The Beach Boys, has died at age 82. Elton John, who inducted The Beach Boys into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, has posted a tribute to Wilson on Instagram.
Sharing a photo of them together, Elton wrote, “Brian Wilson was always so kind to me from the day I met him. He sang ‘Someone Saved My Life Tonight’ at a tribute concert in 2003, and it was an extraordinary moment for me.”
“I played on his solo records, he sang on my album, The Union, and even performed for my AIDS Foundation,” Elton continued. “I grew to love him as a person, and for me, he was the biggest influence on my songwriting ever; he was a musical genius and revolutionary. He changed the goalposts when it came to writing songs and shaped music forever. A true giant.”
During his induction speech, Elton talked about how all British musicians wanted to go to America, and The Beach Boys’ music was one of the reasons why. “This band were geniuses … they made me love America so much more because they existed,” he said. “They are to me for America is — a very, very wonderful place to be.”
Other artists who paid tribute to Brian include Carole King, who called him “my friend and my brother in songwriting,” and Christopher Cross, who wrote, “Words can’t express what Brian Wilson meant to me as a songwriter. I was so fortunate to call him a friend. He was a genuine hero who taught me everything I know about music.”
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