Brian Wilson, the songwriting powerhouse behind the Beach Boys’ greatest and most enduring hits, was placed under a conservatorship by a Los Angeles judge on Thursday. The ruling comes three months after the death of Wilson’s wife, Melinda, and more than a year after his team revealed he was suffering from dementia.
Judge Gus T. May appointed the 81-year-old musician’s longtime publicist, Jean Sievers, and manager, LeeAnn Hard, as his conservators after finding “from clear and convincing evidence” that it was necessary.
A minute order from the hearing obtained by The Daily Beast reads, “The conservatorship is the least restrictive alternative needed for the protection of conservatee.”
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The conservatorship allows Sievers and Hard to make decisions related to Wilson’s personal care and health care. May granted a request by two of Wilson’s seven children, Carnie and Wendy Wilson, two of the three members of Wilson Philips, to be consulted on all of Wilson’s medical decisions, according to the Associated Press.
There were no objections raised at the hearing, according to court records.
Wilson’s family first requested the conservatorship in February, filing a petition with a doctor’s declaration that he was living with a “major neurocognitive disorder” and “is unable to properly provide for his own personal needs for physical health, food, clothing, or shelter.” The petition named Sievers and Hard as desired co-conservators, noting that they’d both had a close relationship with Wilson for years.
“This decision was made to ensure that there will be no extreme changes to the household and Brian and the children living at home will be taken care of,” the family said as part of a social media statement at the time.
“... Brian will be able to enjoy all of his family and friends and continue to work on current projects as well as participate in any activities he chooses,” they added.
Wilson’s wife of 28 years, Melinda Ledbetter Wilson, died in January. She was 77, and had spent much of their marriage caring for the singer, taking care of his “daily living needs,” according to the petition.
In a statement upon her death, Wilson called Melinda his “anchor” and “savior.” By the time they met in 1986, Wilson had been struggling with mental health and substance abuse issues for decades, and he’d fallen under the near-total control of a controversial psychotherapist, Eugene Landy. Melinda helped reconnect Wilson with his family, who were able to obtain a court order barring Landy from contacting him. (Landy died in 2006.)
The couple’s story was portrayed in the 2014 film Love & Mercy, which was made with Wilson’s involvement. He and Melinda would marry in 1995 and go on to adopt five children together. Wilson shares Carnie and Wendy with his first wife, Marilyn Rovell.
Wilson was performing onstage as recently as 2022, but played his last concert that July, a Michigan show where he reportedly sat “rigid and expressionless” at the piano. His team soon canceled the rest of his tour dates, and he all but vanished from the public eye.
