Beach Boys cofounder Brian Wilson, who created some of rock's most enduring songs such as "Good Vibrations" and "God Only Knows" in a career that was marked by a decades-long battle between his musical genius,

Brian Wilson, an eclectic genius whose sunny Beach Boys songs like "God Only Knows" and "Good Vibrations" helped define American pop music, has died.

The death of the poet laureate of adolescent heartbreak was announced by his family on Wednesday: “We are at a loss for words right now.”