Carnie Wilson Recalls Best Memories With Dad Brian Wilson Before His Death: Cooking, Singing, More (Exclusive)
Carnie Wilson recalled the “tremendous” gift of following in her father Brian Wilson’s musical footsteps prior to his death.
“I think it’s kind of unavoidable. Music is in our blood,” Carnie, 57, exclusively told Us Weekly in April 2024, while reflecting on her path to singing one year before Brian died on Wednesday, June 11, at the age of 82.
Carnie is the eldest daughter of Brian and his first wife, Marilyn Rovell. Like her father, who was a founding member of The Beach Boys, Carnie is a musician — and now, her eldest daughter Lola, 20, is following suit. According to Carnie, they all have Brian to thank for their talent.
“To sing with my dad, to sing with Lola and then all of us singing together [is great],” Carnie recalled to Us. “Over Easter, we were singing some Beach Boy songs for him, for my dad, and he couldn’t get over it. I said, ‘Dad, Lola’s voice.’ He said, ‘She’s great. She’s great.’”
Carnie, who is one third of the musical group Wilson Phillips alongside her sister Wendy Wilson and friend Chynna Phillips, noted that her vocal skills come from her dad, but her mom’s side is where she gets her cooking talent. That love of food, however, is something she also shared with her dad.
“He loves when I cook for him,” Carnie told Us, sharing that the “Good Vibrations” singer was a fan of her mac and cheese and key lime cheesecakes, not to mention steak. “That my dad loves.”
Food, family and music have always been core values for the Wilson family, and according to Carnie that included sing-alongs at home.
“We love to sing ‘Surfer Girl’ and ‘In My Room.’ Sometimes a little ‘California Girls,’ [which is] his favorite, and sometimes we do ‘Be My Baby,’ his favorite song ever by The Ronettes,” Carnie said of her and Brian’s go-to tunes. “I like to sing his songs to him. I think they mean a lot to him.”
She gushed, “He also loves Wilson Phillips. He really does good. He’s always asking me, ‘How’s Wilson Phillips?’ I go, ‘We’re great, dad.’ He’s funny. He’s very proud.”
Before his passing, Carnie remembered living it up with her father and the rest of their family despite his declining health. (The family requested a conservatorship over Brian’s person in February 2024, revealing at the time that he suffered from a “major neurocognitive disorder such as dementia.”)
“He’s good. He’s very well cared for. And his spirits are good,” she said in April 2024, noting that after his wife Melinda Kae Ledbetter’s death in January that same year it was “hard,” but he wasn’t alone.
Carnie told Us at the time, “His family is around him. His kids are around him. And he went to the Laker game. We’re going to go see the Dodgers. He wants to go to plays. He wants to go to Musa and Frank’s on Hollywood Boulevard and eat their famous thousand island dressing.”
The Wilson family confirmed on Wednesday that Brian had died. “We are heartbroken to announce that our beloved father Brian Wilson has passed away,” his loved ones wrote in a statement shared via Facebook. “We are at a loss for words right now. Please respect our privacy at this time as our family is grieving. We realize that we are sharing our grief with the world. Love & Mercy.”
Brian was best known for forming The Beach Boys in 1961 alongside his brothers, Dennis and Carl Wilson, cousin Mike Love and high school friend Al Jardine. The group released chart-topping hits for a decade before they took a break. Brian revived his career in the mid-90s with a successful solo journey and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the Beach Boys in 1988.
Brian is survived by daughters Carnie and Wendy, 55, and his and Ledbetter’s five adopted children, Dakota, Daria, Delanie, Dylan and Dash, who have opted to stay out of the limelight. He was also the grandfather of six: Lola, Luciana, Leo, Will, Beau and Jesse.
