Melinda Ledbetter, whose husband Brian Wilson co-founded the Beach Boys, has died at the age of 77.
Wilson, who had been married to Ledbetter since 1995, announced the news with an Instagram post on Jan. 30, featuring an additional statement from their children.
Wilson’s post included two separate photographs of Ledbetter. The first is a sepia-colored picture of his wife, who was also a talent agent. The second image shows Ledbetter posing behind Wilson with her hands resting on his shoulders.
“My heart is broken. Melinda, my beloved wife of 28 years, passed away this morning,” Willson’s caption begins. “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,” his statement continued. “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.”
Wilson signed off his portion of the caption writing, “Love and Mercy.”
A cause of death was not shared at this time.
Prior to her relationship with Wilson, Ledbetter had been a model and a car salesperson.
“Love and Mercy” is the title of a 1998 song by Wilson that was used for the opening track of his debut album.
In the mid-1980s, Ledbetter intervened in what she perceived as a relationship of control on Wilson by his former psychologist, Eugene Landy. Landy was later stripped of his medical license in California. In 2014, the experience was turned into a biographical film titled “Love & Mercy” starring John Cusack and Elizabeth Banks.
Wilson and Ledbetter married in 1995 and were together for nearly 30 years before her death.
This was Wilson's second marriage. The musician was previously married to Marilyn Rovell from 1964 to 1979. Wilson and Rovell share musician daughters Carnie and Wendy Wilson of trio Wilson Phillips.
Wilson and Ledbetter shared five adopted children together: Dakotah Rose, Daria Rose, Delanie Rae, Dylan and Dash, whose joint statement regarding their mother’s death was included in their father’s post.
“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,” their statement reads. “She was a force of nature and one of the strongest women you could come by. She was not only a model, our fathers 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,” their statement continued. “How to take care of the person next to you without 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.”
“We love you mom. Give Grandma Rose and Pa our love,” their statement concluded.
