What happened between Brian Wilson and his daughters? Singers complicated relationship with Wendy and Carnie Wilson explored

The world is mourning the death of music icon Brian Wilson on June 11, 2025, after a lengthy struggle with dementia. The driving force behind establishing The Beach Boys and providing hits like Good Vibrations and Wouldn’t It Be Nice, Wilson also leaves behind a more personal and complex legacy as a dad to seven kids, including Carnie and Wendy Wilson of Wilson Phillips.

Brian Wilson's relationship with Carnie and Wendy, as with his other five children, has been characterized by an emotional distance, estrangement, and eventual reconciliation.

Born to Brian Wilson and his first wife, Marilyn Wilson, Carnie arrived in 1968, followed by Wendy in 1969. According to Today, during this period Wilson was struggling with mental health problems, which included depression, addiction, and the impact of undiagnosed schizoaffective psychosis.

These battles affected him deeply especially in his role as a father. Therefore, Carnie and Wendy had a difficult relationship with their father, who was emotionally and physically absent. Carnie later looked back on their strained relationship in a 1992 interview, noting that they would rarely talk and were “afraid of each other.”

"We can’t call him up and we can’t see him. I guess we could, but we’re so afraid of each other. I don’t know what I would say to him." She told Los Angeles Times.

Their strained relationship with their father led to them writing the song “Flesh and Blood,” an earnest song they included on their second Wilson Phillips album that was intended as a plea for healing and reconnection.

More about Brian Wilson's relationship with Wendy and Carnie Wilson

A turning point came in 1994, when Brian Wilson and Carnie wrote a song together called “Fantasy Is Reality/Bells of Madness.” Carnie remembered the emotional recording session in which her father himself wept as the band played the harmonies. This, according to her, was the first step toward healing. Their mutual passion for music served as an excuse to reconnect.

Brian eventually collaborated on songs for their 1997 album, “The Wilsons,” then, in 2001, performed with his daughters at a tribute concert at Radio City Music Hall, which marked their first public reconciliation.

In a 2025 interview with People, Carnie described her father as an individual who had difficulty expressing love and as someone who was trapped in the past.

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"I have been able to connect and tap into love with him over these years and it’s been the most healing, best thing ever," she said.

Brian Wilson had rarely discussed his children publicly, but in a 2006 interview he termed them as “the light of my life.” After his death, Carnie Wilson honored her father on Instagram, stating that he was "every fiber" of her living and sharing her view of their one of a kind relationship.

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