Where to Watch Every Brian Wilson Film and TV Appearance
Legendary musician Brian Wilson, who died today at age 82, changed the face of American pop music as co-founder and resident sonic genius of the Beach Boys. Wilson began his music career in 1961, at the age of 19, founding the Beach Boys with brothers Dennis and Carl, plus cousin Mike Love and friend Al Jardine — a band that went on to become one of the most popular and critically acclaimed musical acts of all time.
Though often press-shy, over the course of his long career, Wilson has been the subject of a number of films — and made some surprising TV appearances.
This 1985 film was the first major Beach Boys doc, and included clips from then-unreleased songs. It’s also one of only a handful of Beach Boys docs to include interviews with founding member Carl Wilson, who passed in 1998.
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Full House
Beginning in 1985, Full House star John Stamos began periodically performing live with the Beach Boys, and appeared in their 1988 video for “Kokomo.” Which explains why the band showed up on the show twice: once in 1988 during season 2, and again in season 5 — though in a 2015 Reddit AMA, Wilson denied ever having been on the show.
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In 1995, music producer Don Was (Rolling Stones, Bonnie Raitt) directed this, the first comprehensive doc about Wilson’s life. The film included not only interviews with bandmates and fans like Tom Petty and Thurston Moore — it also included family members Carnie and Wendy Wilson, and ex-wife Marilyn Wilson-Rutherford.
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Duck Dodgers
Wilson appeared as himself in a 2005 episode of this Looney Tunes spin-off, performing the song “Believe in Yourself” as the characters face off in a surfing contest.
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Wilson is interviewed in this doc about legendary ’60s and ’70s session musicians The Wrecking Crew, who backed everyone from Elvis to Simon & Garfunkel to the Monkees — and played on “California Girls.”
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Love & Mercy
Wilson’s life inspired this 2014 drama, in which Paul Dano and John Cusack portray the Beach Boy in different eras of his life — including the decades he spent under the thumb of a power-crazed therapist.
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The Beach Boys: Making Pet Sounds
The surviving Beach Boys gathered together in 2017 for this Showtime doc honoring the 50th anniversary of their career-defining masterpiece, “Pet Sounds.”
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Wilson and a number of his most acclaimed contemporaries, including Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, Michelle Phillips, and David Crosby, reflect back on the 1960s Laurel Canyon music scene. Contemporary artists including Beck and Tom Petty also make talking head apperances.
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Brian Wilson: Long Promised Road
This 2021 doc was originally planned to feature a more traditional question-and-answer approach, but Wilson vetoed it; instead, he and Rolling Stone writer Jason Fine spent over 70 hours driving around Wilson’s native Southern California, with Wilson controlling the car stereo. Interspersed are talking head commentaries from Bruce Springsteen, Elton John, Linda Perry, and other music superstars influenced by Wilson’s sound.
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The Day the Music Died
In 2022, Wilson appeared in a film honoring another artist — Don McLean, who shared a look back at his timeless hit, “American Pie.”
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A Grammy Salute to the Beach Boys
In 2023, the band was the subject of an all-star Grammy salute that included Beck, John Legend, Brandi Carlisle, Norah Jones, and many others.
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The Beach Boys
This 2024 Disney+ tribute to the band featured interviews with Wilson, as well as living Beach Boys Mike Love, Al Jardine, David Marks, and Bruce Johnston. Archival footage of the band in its prime, paired with interviews with contemporary fans like Janelle Monae and Lindsay Buckingham make this a useful watch for new fans looking for a broad overview of the band.
