In Pendleton shirts and khakis, Mr. Wilson and the Beach Boys showed the world what easy Southern California living looked like.

He popularised a California surfing soundtrack before taking rock ’n’ roll to experimental places with ‘Pet Sounds’

Leader of the Beach Boys who found fame with hymns to California beach culture and developed into a musician of outstanding range and imagination

The Beach Boys leader was one of pop music’s most acclaimed visionaries, whose creative success was tempered by personal battles.

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.

In Pendleton shirts and khakis, Mr. Wilson and the Beach Boys showed the world what easy Southern California living looked like.

The late Beach Boys musician created a sound that became synonymous with the state’s breezy, laidback vibe

From memories of photoshoots and telephone calls with the late Beach Boy, to appraisals of his complex but pure music, Guardian readers pay tribute to a great