Brian Wilson Struggled With a Number of Health Issues Over the Course of His Life

Following the news that Beach Boys legend Brian Wilson died at the age of 82, many are looking back at his remarkable life and the music he created. The musician was widely regarded as a genius, but his various health problems were also well-known in the years leading up to his death.

Now, as we look back on his remarkable life, many want to learn more about the health issues he faced over the years. Here's what we know.

Although he's regarded as one of the great musicians in the history of rock and roll, Wilson was also partially deaf in his right ear from an early age. The deafness was quite real, but Brian offered a variety of different expectations for how it happened.

In 1991, he told People that his brother Murray Wilson had smacked him in the head with a wooden 2x4 when they were children.

''[My] childhood and adolescence were very sad times in my life because I always had to turn my head to hear things, trying to imagine where those voices were coming from," he explained. Later on, in his memoir, he changed the story to suggest that it had been an interaction with a neighborhood that resulted in his deafness. In the memoir, he said he was hit in the head with a lead pipe.

In addition to his deafness, Brian was also diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, which according to the Mayo Clinic is defined by a combination of schizophrenia symptoms and bipolar symptoms. As a result, he suffered from both hallucinations and delusions and depression and mania. He first began to experience auditory hallucinations in his twenties and dealt with them for decades afterward.

"For the past 40 years I've had auditory hallucinations in my head, all day every day, and I can't get them out," he explained in a 2006 interview with Ability. "Every few minutes the voices say something derogatory to me, which discourages me a little bit, but I have to be strong enough to say to them, 'Hey, would you quit stalking me? F--k off! Don't talk to me — leave me alone!'"

According to Brian, he started to hallucinate shortly after he took psychedelic drugs for the first time, and his persistent issues with them ultimately led him to develop substance abuse issues.

"Well, I took a lot of amphetamines and a lot of downers. The cocaine and marijuana and all the rest of the stuff I took really messed with my brain. I couldn't tell reality from fantasy. Drugs will mess with your head!" he explained

Thankfully, Brian eventually found a support system that helped him to handle his various symptoms. As his interview made clear, he heard voices for much of his life, but learned how to effectively tune them out. He also said that performing helped, but the voices would usually return when he finished.