The group reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1987 with the ballad “Always” and went on to leave a lasting impression on modern-day artists.
Category: Pop and Rock Music
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Remembering Sly Stone and Brian Wilson
A conversation about two pop visionaries whose lives, careers and legacies only grew more complex over time.
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Brian Wilson and Beach Boys’ Style Showed What California Living Looked Like
In Pendleton shirts and khakis, Mr. Wilson and the Beach Boys showed the world what easy Southern California living looked like.
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James Lowe, Rock Outsider With the Electric Prunes, Dies at 82
His band’s output ranged from the 1966 psychedelic hit “I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)” to what he called a “Catholic Mass done in rock veneer.”
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Brian Wilson Wrote the California Dream, but He Didn’t Live It
An artist nearly synonymous with Los Angeles made his name crafting songs playing up his home state’s beachy vibes. His inner life, however, was anything but sunny.
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Paul McCartney, Carole King and Others Pay Tribute to Brian Wilson
Wilson, whose death was announced on Wednesday, leaves behind an immense musical legacy that spans several decades. King and others share how his music shaped them.
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Brian Wilson and Sly Stone: Pop World Builders Dogged by Darkness
Two of music’s powerful visionaries died this week. The songs they meticulously constructed offered an escape their makers struggled to realize in their own lives.
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How “Pet Sounds” Became the Beach Boys Masterpiece
Brian Wilson’s 1966 masterpiece is now considered a crowning achievement of music. The album’s reputation grew over time.
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Did Bob Dylan Help Announce an Album From MGK?
The pop-punk star’s trailer for “Lost Americana” features a familiar voice narrating about a “quest to reclaim the authentic essence of American freedom.”
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Beach Boy Brian Wilson’s 12 Essential Songs
The Beach Boys leader, whose death was announced on Wednesday, was a brilliant writer, arranger and producer whose ambitions propelled his band — and contemporaries like the Beatles — into the future.
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Brian Wilson, Songwriter and Leader of the Beach Boys, Dies at 82
A hitmaker elevated and burdened by the label of genius, he transcended the breezy surf genre to create complex harmonies and intricate soundscapes in the studio.
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From ‘The Materialists’ to ‘The Bear,’ Pop Culture Takes Up Smoking Again
From movies and TV shows to music, the habit is no longer taboo. It’s even being celebrated for the way it makes characters look cool or powerful.