American musician Dennis Carl Wilson was one of the original members of the Beach Boys. He is best known as their drummer and as the middle brother of Brian and Carl Wilson, who were also in the band.
Dennis was the only Beach Boy who really surfed, and his life was a perfect example of the “California Myth” that many of the band’s early songs praised. He was also known for being involved with the Manson Family and for co-starring in the 1971 movie Two-Lane Blacktop.
Wilson mostly played drums and sang in the background for the Beach Boys. People often think that he was always replaced on records by studio musicians, but you can hear his playing on many of the group’s hits.
Do you know that the Branch Davidian cult’s leader, David Koresh, was said to have dἰed from a gunshot wound to the head before the cult’s home was burned down by the fire, according to the police, who claimed to have found and identified his body:
At first, he sang lead on only a few of the band’s songs, but after their 1968 album Friends, he became better known as a singer-songwriter. His music is known for being “edgy” and showing “little of his happy charm.” He wrote “Little Bird” and “Forever” for the group.
Friends and biographers have said that he wrote “You Are So Beautiful,” which was a hit for Joe Cocker in 1974, and that Wilson often played in concert. But why did Dennis Wilson dἰe? Read on to find out more about his deἀth.
What Was Dennis Wilson’s Cause of Deἀth?
Dennis drowned at Marina Del Rey on December 28, 1983, three weeks after his 39th birthday. He had been drinking all day and then dove in the afternoon to get his ex-belongings, wife’s which he had thrown overboard from his yacht three years earlier during their divorce.
Michael Hunter, a forensic pathologist, thought that Dennis had a shallow-water blackout right before he dἰed. Dennis’s body was buried at sea by the U.S. Coast Guard on January 4, 1984, just off the coast of California.
The Beach Boys released a statement shortly thereafter –
“We know Dennis would have wanted to continue in the tradition of the Beach Boys. His spirit will remain in our music.”
At the funeral, his song “Farewell, My Friend” was played. Dennis’s wife, Shawn Love, said that he wanted to be buried at sea and that his brothers, Carl and Brian, did not want him to be cremated. At the time, only Coast Guard and Navy veterans could be buried in US waters without first being cremated.
However, then-President Ronald Reagan made it possible for Dennis to be buried there without first being cremated. In 2002, Brian said he didn’t like the plan because he thought Dennis should have had a traditional funeral and burial.
