Love Stories: Why Brian Wilson's wife Melinda was his 'saviour'
By Jo Abi|
Brian Wilson and late wife Melinda Ledbetter Wilson first found love in the late eighties before they were cruelly ripped apart by a therapist claiming to have the Beach Boys singer's best interests at heart.
The couple first met in 1986 when ?Melinda, a former model, sold Brian a car, a brown Cadillac Seville. It was the first car she showed him, and he was a goner.
"I remember meeting her at her dealership, Cadillac, and I said, 'God, she's a pretty girl. That's a pretty girl,'" Brian told ABC News in 2015.
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"I just said to myself, 'God, I think I'll see her again sometime.'"
The pair began dating on and off as Brian struggled with a number of health issues including mental illness and drug abuse.
It was during these struggles that the Beach Boy came under the care of a therapist named Eugene Landy, whose controversial association with Brian would lead the music maker to become estranged from his loved ones.
?Brian told Larry King in 2004 he wasn't "allowed to call family or friends at all, for nine years" under Landy's care.
Landy had not only served as Brian's therapist but would act as his manager, much to Brian's loved ones' horror.
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Landy would ultimately be banned from contacting Brian after his brother, mother and daughters sued him for "undue influence" in 1991.
?In 1992, Brian found his way back to Melinda. She told Rolling Stone she was driving down Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles when she came across him and "nearly ran him over."
This time, the couple's relationship would grow without any interference and they wed on February 6, 1995 in California.?
It was a true family affair, with Brian's daughters from his first marriage, Wilson Phillips members Carnie and Wendy Wilson, performed their father's iconic song God Only Knows.
Carnie later said it meant "so much to see Dad happy."
?To say Brian's life and career up until his marriage to Melinda had been tumultuous would be an understatement. Brian later credited Melinda with turning his life around.
He instinctively knew she had his best interests at heart, and she would become her husband's full-time manager in 1999.
Melinda told Rolling Stone she utilised her skills from her days as a car salesperson, "negotiating" as she did "every single day when I sold cars."
?Brian and Melinda were all about family. They would adopt five children during their 28 year marriage: Dylan, Dash, Daria, Delanie and Dakota.
Melinda told Larry King: "About a year into our marriage, we decided we wanted children, and we didn't get married til I was 48. We decided we would adopt."
Brian said: "I was thrilled to be able to do it."
Brian and Melinda's love story would be immortalised in the 2015 film Love & Mercy starring Elizabeth Banks and John Cusack.
The movie not only recreated the couple's first meeting but Brian's struggles and the role Landy played in their split.?
Melinda told ABC News it was "tough" to watch.?
"I think I was more nervous than him when I took him to see it, and after, I said, 'So what did you think?' And he goes, 'Oh, it was really a lot worse in real life,'" she said.
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Melinda knew more than anyone that music was Brian's first love and nothing could replace it. She told as much to Banks when she was preparing to play Melinda in the movie.
?Brian and Melinda spent 28 glorious years together before her death on January 30, 2024 at the age of 77. Brian shared an emotional social media post announcing his wife's death.
"My heart is broken. Melinda, my beloved wife of 28 years, passed away this morning," he shared. "Our five children and I are just in tears. We are lost. Melinda was more than my wife. She was my savior.?"
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He continued: "She gave me the emotional security I needed to have a career. She encouraged me to make the music that was closest to my heart. She was my anchor. She was everything for us. Please say a prayer for her. Love and Mercy"?
The couples children also wrote a message shared on Brian's social media pages, describing their mother as a "force of nature."
"She was not only a model, our fathers savior, and a mother, she was a woman empowered by her spirit with a mission to better everyone she touched," they shared.
"We will miss her but cherish everything she has taught us."
