(MORRISTOWN, NJ) -- He’s been called the Gershwin of his generation, the creative force behind some of the most cherished recordings in rock history. Brian Wilson’s work has proved to be as powerful as faith, as timeless as love and as heartfelt as mercy. Co-Founder of The Beach Boys Brian Wilson: Greatest Hits Live With Special Guests Al Jardine and Blondie Chaplin comes to Mayo Performing Arts Center (MPAC) on Wednesday, October 13 at 7:30pm.
Wilson began his career as a teenaged founding member of The Beach Boys, who signed with Capitol Records in July 1962 and released their first album, Surfin’ Safari, that same year. The band’s initial surf-rock focus was soon broadened to include other themes. Wilson’s innovative vocal and instrumental arrangements for major hits including “I Get Around,” “California Girls,” “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” “God Only Knows,” and the No. 1 smash “Good Vibrations” established The Beach Boys as America’s preeminent band of the 1960s.
Wilson has also achieved great success as a solo artist with 11 of his own albums released to date, including his acclaimed 2004 completion of an album he first began recording in the ‘60s, Brian Wilson Presents… SMiLE. The album earned Wilson his first GRAMMY® for a recording, which was followed by his second GRAMMY® win for producing The Beach Boys’ acclaimed 2011 release, The SMiLE Sessions. With his own band, Wilson has performed major, sold-out tours in recent years, and with The Beach Boys he celebrated the iconic band’s 50th anniversary in 2012 with a major international tour and acclaimed studio album, That’s Why God Made The Radio.
In November, he will be releasing his newest album, At My Piano, a solo piano album of stripped-back classics from his catalog. Out November 19 via Decca, At My Piano features piano renditions of Beach Boys tunes “Wouldn’t It Be Nice,” “In My Room,” “Don’t Worry Baby,” “California Girls,” “Surf’s Up,” “Good Vibrations,” and more,
Tickets range from $79-$149 and are available for purchase online. MPAC patrons must show proof of full vaccination and a photo ID at the door, or a negative COVID test within 48 hours of an event, and wear masks at all times.
In 2015, Wilson released No Pier Pressure (Capitol) and was the subject of the critically-acclaimed, award-winning biopic Love & Mercy (Roadside Attractions/Lionsgate). Directed by Bill Pohlad and starring John Cusack, Paul Dano, Elizabeth Banks and Paul Giamatti, Love & Mercy presents an unconventional portrait of the music legend. Set against the era-defining catalog of the music, the film intimately examines the personal voyage and ultimate salvation of the iconic performer whose success came at an extraordinary personal cost. The culmination of these projects produced Wilson’s first Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song (Motion Picture) for “One Kind Of Love”, which was featured in the film.
Brian Wilson is a Kennedy Center Honors recipient, a Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee, and a U.K. Music Hall of Fame inductee. As a member of The Beach Boys, Wilson was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, and honored with The Recording Academy’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001.
Mayo Performing Arts Center (MPAC) is located at 100 South Street in Morristown, New Jersey. (MPAC), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, presents a wide range of programs that entertain, enrich, and educate the diverse population of the region and enhance the economic vitality of Northern New Jersey. The 2021-2022 season is made possible, in part, by a grant the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as support received from the F.M. Kirby Foundation, The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation and numerous corporations, foundations and individuals. Mayo Performing Arts Center was named 2016 Outstanding Historic Theatre by the League of Historic American Theatres, and is ranked in the top 50 mid-sized performing arts centers by Pollstar Magazine.
