Brian Wilson Mourns Death of Wife Melinda: ‘She Was My Savior’

Melinda Ledbetter Wilson, wife of Beach Boys legend Brian Wilson has died. She was 77 years old.

Wilson took to Instagram on Tuesday (Jan. 30) to announce the devastating news, alongside two photos of his wife. “My heart is broken. Melinda, my beloved wife of 28 years, passed away this morning,” he wrote, without indicating the cause of death. “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.”

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The caption also featured a joint statement from the couple’s five children — Dakota Rose, Daria Rose, Delanie Rose, Dylan and Dash. “It is with a heavy heart that we let everyone know that our mom, Melinda Kay Ledbetter Wilson passed away peacefully this morning at home,” they wrote. “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, 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 with out 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.”

See the post below:

Brian and Melinda first met in 1986, when she sold him a Cadillac. They dated for three years, but rekindled their relationship in 1992 and tied the knot in 1995.

Ledbetter was played by Elizabeth Banks in the 2014 film Love & Mercy. John Cusack and Paul Dano played Brian Wilson at different ages. Paul Giamatti played the discredited Dr. Eugene Landy.

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