It's been 50 years since the Beach Boys' first record, Surfin' Safari, and Brian Wilson has certainly gotten around. At 69, Wilson's past is littered with very public successes and failures. After penning some of the most famous California surfer tunes, his reputation was marred by a mental breakdown, and he soon disappeared from the music scene as quickly as he arrived. The eccentric Wilson, suffering from schizoaffective disorder and manic depression, retreated into an era of drugs and seclusion. Now he has resurfaced, bringing that iconic falsetto back to the recording studio with “That’s Why God Made the Radio,” the first song he's penned for the band since 1980. As Wilson and the remaining Beach Boys go on their 50th-anniversary tour, Andrew Romano wonders if the singer still has it in him. "Is it enough for rock legends to show up, alive, and emit faithful renditions of their old recordings?" he writes in Newsweek.
Here, The Daily Beast takes a look back at the major moments that shaped Wilson’s life and career, and seeks the answer to a question Wilson pondered at a recent band rehearsal: "How did we ever f--king get here?"
