Beach Boys star Brian Wilson shares death of beloved wife Melinda: 'She was my anchor'
Melinda Ledbetter Wilson, the wife of Beach Boys legend Brian Wilson for nearly three decades, has died.
Beach Boys legend Brian Wilson has sadly taken to Instagram to announce the death of his beloved wife Melinda Ledbetter Wilson.
The pair had been together for nearly three decades, and died at 77, admitting his "heart was broken".
He wrote: "Our five children and I are just in tears. We are lost. Melinda was more than my wife. She was my savior.
"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 Brian."
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Brian used plenty of loving images of his wife throughout his life, with the post also including a message from the pair's children.
It read: "She was a force of nature and one of the strongest women you could come by. She was not only a model, our father’s savior, and a mother, but she was a woman empowered by her spirit with a mission to better everyone she touched.
"We will miss her but cherish everything she has taught us. How to take care of the person next to you without expecting anything in return, how to find beauty in the darkest of places, and how to live life as your truest self with honesty and pride. We love you mom. Give Grandma Rose and Pa our love."
Wilson married Melinda in 1995 and the couple adopted children Dakota Rose, Daria Rose, Delanie Rose, Dylan, and Dash.
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They first met when Melinda sold Brian a Cadillac in 1968 and they then proceeded to date on and off for three years.
In 1992, the"God Only Knows singer and his future bride bumped into each other once more in Los Angeles and rekindled their romance.
He told People in 1998: "I’ve never had a relationship with a girl like we have. She’s a partner who’s also a best friend."
Melinda, meanwhile, praised her husband’s "vulnerability" saying he was “probably the most sane person I know".
In 2014, their life together got the biopic treatment with Love & Mercy, which starred John Cusack and Elizabeth Banks as Brian and Melinda
The film gave viewers a deep dive into Wilson’s struggles with mental illness and chronicled his complicated relationship with his therapist and legal guardian Dr. Eugene Landy.
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