23 Facts About Marilyn Wilson-Rutherford

Marilyn Wilson-Rutherford is an American singer who is best known as the first wife of Beach Boys co-founder Brian Wilson.

Marilyn Wilson-Rutherford was a member of two girl groups, the Honeys in the 1960s and American Spring in the 1970s.

Marilyn Wilson-Rutherford married Brian in December 1964 and together had two children, Carnie and Wendy Wilson, who later formed two-thirds of Wilson Phillips.

Marilyn Wilson-Rutherford continues to occasionally perform concerts with the Honeys.

Marilyn Wilson-Rutherford Rovell was born on February 6,1948, in Chicago, the second daughter of Mae Gausmann and Irving Rovell.

Marilyn Wilson-Rutherford's father was the owner and operator of a hand laundry.

Marilyn Wilson-Rutherford's father took a job as a metal worker for the Lockheed Aircraft Corporation and, on the weekends, a part-time job as a clothing salesman.

Marilyn Wilson-Rutherford met Brian Wilson when she attended a Beach Boys concert at Pandora's Box, a Sunset Strip nightclub, in August 1962 with Diane and their cousin Ginger Blake, who was dating Wilson's collaborator Gary Usher.

Marilyn Wilson-Rutherford released several Honeys recordings as singles, although they sold poorly.

Marilyn Wilson-Rutherford began dating Brian Wilson when she was 15 and he was 21.

In between her time spent recording and performing, Marilyn Wilson-Rutherford worked at a doughnut shop, and enrolled in Hollywood Professional School with Diane.

Brian moved out of the Rovells' home in late 1964, after which Marilyn Wilson-Rutherford's relationship turned more serious.

Marilyn Wilson-Rutherford took her husband to see a psychiatrist, who declared that Brian's issues were due to work-related stress.

Marilyn Wilson-Rutherford later reconciled with her husband and returned to live with him.

Marilyn Wilson-Rutherford felt that her relationship with Brian was a central thematic reference, particularly for "You Still Believe in Me" and "Caroline, No".

Marilyn Wilson-Rutherford told Gaines that they moved because her husband had "wanted a bigger home", but according to Badman, the move was to extricate themselves from Brian's "hanger-ons".

Marilyn Wilson-Rutherford referred to Brian's friends as "drainers", a sentiment shared by the rest of Wilson's family, who had felt that some of Brian's associates had been enabling his drug habits and other self-destructive behavior.

Frustrated with the constant visits to their home from musicians and producers, Marilyn Wilson-Rutherford had the band's studio, located within the Wilson household, dismantled in 1972.

Early in 1975, Marilyn Wilson-Rutherford consulted Brian's cousin, Stephen Love, telling him that she was considering having Brian committed to a psychiatric hospital and divorce him if he continued to refuse counseling.

In December 1976, after Landy had raised his fee, Marilyn Wilson-Rutherford relieved him of his services and a new psychiatrist was immediately brought to Brian.

Three weeks after Pamplin had been hired as Wilson's bodyguard, Marilyn Wilson-Rutherford began having an affair with the model.

Marilyn Wilson-Rutherford was granted custody of their children and half of a share of Wilson's songwriting royalties.

In 2022, Marilyn Wilson-Rutherford filed a $6.7 million suit against Wilson regarding "copyright termination interests" after Wilson had sold his publishing rights to Universal Music Publishing Group for $50 million.