Sting paid tribute to Brian Wilson during his concert in Rostock, Germany, on Wednesday, June 12. "Today, one of my heroes died, Brian Wilson from the Beach Boys, so I want to sing a song that I love,

I'll never forget the first time Brian Wilson made me see God. It was 1973, and I was sitting in the mostly empty balcony of a second-run movie theater finally watching “American Graffiti,” the movie everyone in my high school was talking about.

"Sometimes you just wing it," Dave Matthews said after performing about one minute of the song. "Sad to see Brian go. … May he rest in peace."

A legendary British rocker is going viral with his new, stripped down recording of God Only Knows as a tribute to the late, great Brian Wilson.

When inducting Brian Wilson into the songwriters Hall of Fame, Paul McCartney recalled how Wilson's 'God Only Knows" brought him to tears. The passing of Wilson at 82, brought many to tears remembering how he had brought joy to them as the founder,

One of Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys’ most enduring hits is “God Only Knows” from their 1966 album Pet Sounds. Revered artists like Paul McCartney have expressed their adoration of the song, and it often finds a spot high in the rankings of greatest songs of all time lists.

The Beach Boys, whose music would create the timeless "California sound" and was founded by Wilson in 1961, also paid tribute to him on Instagram. "Brian Wilson wasn't just the heart of The Beach Boys—he was the soul of our sound," the group wrote in part.

How the Beach Boys classic “God Only Knows” was created In the list of great songs that Brian Wilson wrote for The Beach Boys, God Only Knows has a special place. It is a quintessential Brian Wilson track.