Founder member of the
Beach Boys, along with his brothers
Brian Wilson and
Carl Wilson, cousin
Mike Love and Brian's friend
Al Jardine.
Dennis was the least accomplished instrumentalist of the
Beach Boys (nominally the drummer he rarely played on records and there was usually a second drummer on stage), but his songwriting, from
1968's
Friends album on, was a major asset to the group, and he wrote one of their very best songs, Forever.
He also released one solo album,
Pacific Ocean Blue, in 1977, and also starred in the film
Two-Lane Blacktop. He drowned in 1983.