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Melinda Ledbetter

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Melinda Ledbetter
Ledbetter in 1964
Born
Melinda Kae Ledbetter[1]

(1946-10-03)October 3, 1946
Pueblo, Colorado, U.S.
DiedJanuary 30, 2024(2024-01-30) (aged 77)
Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
Other namesMelinda Wilson[2][3]
Occupation(s)Manager and conservator of Brian Wilson
Years active1990s–2024
OrganizationBriMel Music
Spouse
​
(m. 1995)​
Children5 (adopted)

Melinda Kae Ledbetter (October 3, 1946 – January 30, 2024) was an American talent manager who was the second wife and longtime manager of Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. She was once also a model and car saleswoman.[4] Ledbetter was credited with helping to initiate Wilson's court-ordered separation from his former psychologist, Eugene Landy,[4] and leading Wilson to proper medical care.[5] Her account of her early relationship with Wilson was dramatized for the 2014 biopic Love & Mercy, in which Ledbetter is portrayed by Elizabeth Banks.[6]

Background

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Melinda Kae Ledbetter was born in Pueblo, Colorado, on October 3, 1946,[7][8] to Rosemary and Leonard Ledbetter, an Air Force pilot who had been stationed there.[9] Melinda grew up in Whittier, California,[9] and was of German and Irish descent.[9] She had a 16-year career as a commercial model for designers including Bob Mackie and Anne Klein, after which she became a sales representative for a Cadillac dealership in Los Angeles.[10]

In 1986, while working at the car dealership, Ledbetter met Brian Wilson. At the time, Wilson had been a patient under Eugene Landy's 24-hour therapy program.[4] Six months after meeting Wilson, she had reported Landy to the state's attorney general for ethical violations, but they informed her that nothing could be done without the cooperation of Wilson's family.[11] According to Ledbetter, Landy ordered Wilson to sever ties with her in 1989, "when we [Brian and I] started to get serious".[9]

Marriage to Brian Wilson

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Brian Wilson performing in 2015

After Landy was struck with a 1991 court order which barred him from contacting Wilson,[11] Wilson and Ledbetter reconnected and were married on February 6, 1995.[12] Ledbetter went on to become Wilson's manager in 1999, a job which she said was "basically negotiating, and that's what I did every single day when I sold cars."[4] According to Ledbetter, "I was in the right place at the right time to help him. It's like the concept that you can lead a horse to water but you can't get him to drink. ... What he's missed out on is an environment where he feels safe. He didn't have that before with his family, his old band, his doctor, his first wife. But he finally has that."[5]

Ledbetter was credited with leading Wilson to proper medical care, to tour regularly, and to complete his unfinished album Smile.[5] However, numerous reports surrounding Wilson's comeback alleged that his close associates, including Ledbetter, had been exploiting Wilson and applying undue pressure on him to maintain an active music career.[13] In 1998, Wilson's daughter Carnie called her "Melandy", a reference to Landy and the control he formerly held over Wilson's affairs.[14] In a 2007 interview, Wilson credited his relationship with Ledbetter for allowing him to resume his career as a musician. However, in the same interview, he remarked that he felt that he should have spent the early 2000s "in a mental institution under heavy sedation" due to his psychological issues.[5] Whether Wilson truly consents to his semi-regular touring schedule since the 2000s remains a subject of debate among fans.[15]

In the mid-1990s, Wilson collaborated with multi-instrumentalist Andy Paley on tracks earmarked for a potential Beach Boys comeback album. It was reported that Ledbetter influenced Wilson to scrap the project in favor of a new album with former wrestler Joe Thomas.[16][4] In 1999, a suit was filed against Thomas, seeking damages and a declaration which freed Wilson to work on his next album without involvement from Thomas.[17] Thomas reciprocated with a suit citing that Ledbetter "schemed against and manipulated" him and Wilson. The case was settled out of court.[18]

According to Wilson's cousin and former bandmate Mike Love, the group's 50th anniversary reunion tour involving all original surviving members ended prematurely, partly due to interference from Ledbetter.[19][20] He expressed disappointment that he was never allowed to collaborate with Wilson for the album That's Why God Made the Radio, as had been promised, and that during the performances, she attempted to install an autotune unit on each of the band members' microphones. This was the beginning of some backstage quarrels between Love and Ledbetter, which ended with his stipulating that she be banned from rehearsals until the tour was over.[21]

In 2015, Wilson credited Ledbetter with assisting with some of the production of his album No Pier Pressure.[22] Upon Ledbetter's death in 2024, Wilson wrote that "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.”[23]

Love & Mercy

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Half of the 2014 Brian Wilson biopic Love & Mercy is set from Ledbetter's point of view in the 1980s, with Elizabeth Banks playing Ledbetter. Love & Mercy screenwriter Oren Moverman stated that virtually every event in the film's 1980s portions was sourced from conversations he had with Ledbetter.[6] She said after watching the film: "I remembered that what Landy did to Brian was even worse. You don't get a sense of it in the movie, but it happened on a daily basis, for years."[24]

Personal life and death

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Ledbetter and Wilson adopted five children.[25]

Ledbetter died at her home in Beverly Hills, California, on January 30, 2024, at the age of 77.[7][8][26] Her death was announced by Wilson via his Twitter account.[27]

References

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  1. ^ Holdship, Bill (August 1995). "Lost in Music" (PDF). MOJO. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 30, 1998.
  2. ^ Gilstrap, Peter (June 8, 2015). "Brian and Melinda Wilson on unflinching biopic Love & Mercy: "It had to be factual"". LA Weekly.
  3. ^ Visci, Marissa (June 10, 2015). "Here's What's Fact and What's Fiction in Love & Mercy, the New Biopic About Brian Wilson". Slate.
  4. ^ a b c d e Fine, Jason (July 8, 1999). "Brian Wilson's Summer Plans". Rolling Stone.
  5. ^ a b c d Freedom du Lac, J. (December 2, 2007). "It Wasn't All Fun, Fun, Fun". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 30, 2013.
  6. ^ a b Weintraub, Steve (June 6, 2015). "LOVE & MERCY Screenwriter Oren Moverman on Brian Wilson's Mythology, Fact vs. Fiction, and More". Collider. Archived from the original on June 7, 2015.
  7. ^ a b Ives, Mike (January 30, 2024). "Melinda Wilson, Who Helped Brian Wilson Battle Mental Illness, Dies at 77". The New York Times. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
  8. ^ a b Pearce, Matt (January 31, 2024). "Melinda Wilson, wife and emotional 'savior' of musician Brian Wilson, dies at 77". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 1, 2024.
  9. ^ a b c d White, Timothy (1996). The Nearest Faraway Place: Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys, and the Southern Californian Experience. Macmillan. p. 361. ISBN 0333649370.
  10. ^ White 1996, p. 360.
  11. ^ a b Mason, Anthony (July 19, 2015). "Brian Wilson's summer of milestones". CBS News.
  12. ^ "The Hatchet Will Be Buried in Sand". New York. 28 (6). New York Media, LLC: 14. February 6, 1996. ISSN 0028-7369.
  13. ^ Carlin, Peter Ames (2006). Catch a Wave: The Rise, Fall, and Redemption of the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson. Rodale. p. 293. ISBN 978-1-59486-320-2.
  14. ^ Lester, Paul (June 1998). "Brain Wilson: Endless Bummer". Uncut.
  15. ^ Stebbins, Jon (2011). The Beach Boys FAQ: All That's Left to Know About America's Band. Backbeat Books. ISBN 9781458429148.
  16. ^ Lester, Paul (June 1998). "The High Llamas: Hump Up the Volume". Uncut.
  17. ^ "Bad Vibrations: Brian Wilson Sues Collaborator". Rolling Stone. August 24, 1999.
  18. ^ "Brian Wilson Settles Suit With Former Partner". Rolling Stone. July 18, 2000.
  19. ^ "Beach Boys' Mike Love opens up relationship with cousin Brian Wilson". CBS News. September 15, 2016.
  20. ^ Love, Mike (2016). Good Vibrations: My Life as a Beach Boy. Penguin Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-698-40886-9.
  21. ^ Love 2016, p. 398-99.
  22. ^ Amarosi, A.D. (June 2015). "Wouldn't it be nice..." Icon.
  23. ^ Hauser, Christine (May 10, 2024). "Brian Wilson, Beach Boys Visionary, Is Placed Under Conservatorship". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 11, 2024.
  24. ^ Phull, Hardeep (June 4, 2015). "How one quack doctor almost destroyed Brian Wilson's career". New York Post.
  25. ^ O'Donnell, Kevin (December 10, 2012). "Inside the Beautiful Mind of Brian Wilson". People.
  26. ^ DeSantis, Rachel (January 30, 2024). "Beach Boys' Brian Wilson Announces Death of 'Savior' Wife Melinda: 'She Was My Anchor'". People. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
  27. ^ "My heart is broken. Melinda, my beloved wife of 28 years, passed away this morning". Brian Wilson on X. Retrieved January 30, 2024.
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