Brian Wilson, the visionary power behind the Seaside Boys, was a founding member of one of the influential American bands of the Nineteen Sixties. Alongside his brothers Carl and Dennis Wilson, cousin Mike Love, and childhood pal Al Jardine, Brian helped pioneer the sun-soaked California pop sound that outlined a technology. Their breakout album, Surfin’ Safari, dropped in 1962 shortly after signing with Capitol Information, and tracks like “Enjoyable, Enjoyable, Enjoyable” stay culturally iconic, most lately featured within the trailer for the 2023 Barbie movie starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling.
Whereas Wilson’s musical legacy is plain, his private life was marked by emotional complexity. Typically described as a pop genius, he confronted decades-long struggles with psychological well being, together with diagnoses of schizoaffective dysfunction and bipolar signs. These challenges echoed via his relationships—some tumultuous, others deeply supportive. In January 2024, Brian shared the heartbreaking information that his second spouse, Melinda, had died on the age of 77.
Following his personal passing in 2025, many are trying again on the private lifetime of the person behind the music. Right here’s every little thing to learn about Brian’s marriages and the romantic relationships over time under.
Melinda Kae Ledbetter
Brian was married to former mannequin Melinda Kae Ledbetter since 1995. However the couple had initially dated years earlier than that, from 1986-1989. In line with The U.S. Solar, Brian and the Colorado-born magnificence married on February 6, 1995 in California. They met when she was working at an upscale auto dealership in Los Angeles in 1986, and commenced the muse for his or her decades-long relationship.
“I keep in mind assembly her at her dealership, Cadillac, and I stated, ‘God, she’s a reasonably woman,’” he stated throughout an ABC Nightline interview again in 2015. “‘That’s a reasonably woman.’” He added, “I simply stated to myself, ‘God, I feel I’ll see her once more someday.’” For her half, Melinda was drawn to the legendary musician’s kindness. “That’s what attracted me to him, he was so good,” she stated.
The duo wound up adopting 5 kids collectively — daughters Daria, Delanie, and Dakota, and sons Dylan and Sprint. She was additionally his supervisor.
On January 30, 2024, Brian and his kids introduced the loss of life of Melinda on the age of 77. They revealed she died peacefully at dwelling on that very same day. “Our 5 kids and I are simply in tears. We’re misplaced,” he captioned a set of throwback images of Melinda on Instagram. “Melinda was greater than my spouse. She was my savior. She gave me the emotional safety I wanted to have a profession. She inspired me to make the music that was closest to my coronary heart. She was my anchor. She was every little thing for us. Please say a prayer for her. Love and Mercy Brian.”
Marilyn Rovell
Singer Marilyn Rovell was Brian’s first spouse, and the couple met and commenced relationship in 1962 when she was simply 15 and he was 21. The Rovell household was additionally musical, and with Brian being near the household, he was invited to stay of their dwelling. Marilyn and Brian initially stored the connection secret. Nonetheless, the romance progressed, and so they have been married in December of 1964. Amid the wedding, nonetheless, Brian started to battle along with his feelings. He suffered panic assaults and a nervous breakdown. Drug and alcohol use compounded the issue.
Per Wikipedia, Marilyn and Brian moved to ritzy Bel Aire in Los Angeles as his star rose, and he or she gave start to 2 daughters — Carnie in 1968 and Wendy in 1969. Carnie and Wendy would go on to comprise two thirds of the well-known 80’s pop band Wilson Philips.
However the marriage was tumultuous to a stunning diploma. Brian engaged in affairs with Marilyn’s sister Diane Rovell and, concurrently, with a phone operator named Debbie Keil. In the meantime, he informed his spouse she ought to be having affairs, too. Nonetheless, he cared for his spouse, as evidenced by an unreleased music known as “Marilyn Rovell” and his 1964 hit “All Summer time Lengthy,” each about her.
The wedding couldn’t stand up to the instability and infidelity, and so they separated in 1978 and filed for divorce the next yr. They’re grandparents of six musical youngsters — Carnie had two daughters, whereas Wendy had 4 sons.
Judy Bowles
Earlier than assembly Marilyn, David was concerned with Judy Bowles, whom he met at a baseball recreation in 1961. Nonetheless, the connection overlapped along with his relationship with Marilyn. His involvement along with her was ongoing as he met his future spouse in 1962, however he went on to write down romantic hits about Judy, together with Surfer Woman in 1963 and “The Heat Of The Solar” in 1964. They have been engaged by December of 1963 with a plan to marry in December of 1964. They went their separate methods, and he wound up marrying Marilyn, as an alternative.
Diane Rovell
Diane Rovell is Marilyn’s older sister, and he or she launched into an affair along with her brother-in-law after they have been married. His songs “My Diane” and “Don’t Harm My Little Sister” have been written about her.
Linda Ronstadt
Singer Linda Ronstadt insinuated in her 2013 biography Easy Goals that she shared a romance with the crooner. Brian subsequently took to his Fb web page to share the eyebrow elevating excerpt. “I knew Brian years in the past. I feel we met on the Troubadour and have become associates. He lived not too removed from me, after I was dwelling above the Sundown Strip. He used to come back knock on my door regularly, often on the way in which to the well being meals retailer – I feel all people was consuming grape juice in these days. Generally he’d be wanting cash and he’d come to my again door and say, ‘I must borrow 18 cents.’ He’d get a pair bottles of grape juice and are available again and we’d drink it collectively. He wasn’t dwelling at dwelling at that time and he was having a tough time adjusting to issues like doing his laundry. We’d go sit within the laundromat and watch the garments go ’spherical and discuss rock’n’roll. I hoped he’d keep in mind these instances as fondly as I did – and he does.”
Carolyn Williams
Brian launched into a relationship with a nurse named Carolyn Williams. They met in 1969, and the liaison lasted till 1983. The tip of the connection got here, he confessed at the least partially as the results of a misogynist and racist comment he deeply regrets. “My head wasn’t on straight in any respect and I’d typically say silly issues to her,” he wrote in his personal 2016 memoir, I Am Brian Wilson. “As soon as I received impatient and stated, ‘Get your black a** in there and make me lunch.’ I apologized instantly however I didn’t really feel proper about it. She break up fairly quickly and it was largely due to me. I’m sorry about it even at present.”
