Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson, one of the most acclaimed and influential songwriters of the 20th century, has died aged 82.

He shot to fame as the frontman of the Beach Boys, for which he served as the principal songwriter as well as the co-lead vocalist.

Last year, weeks after the death of his longtime wife Melinda, it emerged that he had been diagnosed with a neurocognitive disorder similar to dementia.

His children announced Wilson’s death on the singer’s official Instagram page this Wednesday, along with what appeared to be a recent photo.

‘We are heartbroken to announce that our beloved father Brian Wilson has passed away. We are at a loss for words right now,’ they wrote.

‘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.’

Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson, one of the most acclaimed and influential songwriters of the 20th century, has died aged 82 

Wilson formed the Beach Boys in 1961 with his brothers Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love and their friend Al Jardine 

Wilson formed the Beach Boys in 1961 with his brothers Dennis and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love and their friend Al Jardine.

The original name of the band was the Pendletones, and they exploded onto the scene with their 1961 song Surfin’, written by Brian Wilson and Mike Love.

Over the course of the 1960s the band became one of the most beloved in America, releasing albums like Surfin’ Safari, Surfin’ U.S.A. and Surfer Girl. 

However Wilson’s involvement with the band shifted dramatically when he suffered a nervous breakdown in 1964, followed by two more in the next couple of years. 

He promptly withdrew from touring but retained his backstage control of the band as a writer and producer, masterminding their 1966 masterpiece Pet Sounds and providing lead vocals on many of the tracks.

Pet Sounds struggled commercially at first, but ultimately earned a reputation as one of the most acclaimed pop or rock albums ever created.

Paul McCartney has cited Pet Sounds as a particularly profound influence on him, one that spurred him to explore new songwriting frontiers himself for the Beatles. 

Wilson plunged into heavy drug use during the 1960s, including LSD, and the combination of his mounting substance problem and psychological issues contributed to his increasing withdrawal from public life. 

The last time Wilson was seen in public was last April, when he emerged in Los Angeles looking frail and using a wheelchair while going to a Lakers game

One of his symptoms was paranoid delusions, and he continued experiencing auditory hallucinations in the last decades of his life.

Melinda, his second and final wife, married Wilson in 1995 and he has credited her with having ‘saved’ him from his personal demons.

Last February, shortly after Melinda’s death, his family filed to obtain a conservatorship of him, announcing he had been diagnosed with dementia. 

The last time Wilson was seen in public was last April, when he emerged in Los Angeles looking frail and using a wheelchair while going to a Lakers game.