“I owe him my entire musical life” — Bruce Springsteen chokes up as he pays tribute to Brian Wilson after 40 years of silence. As the soft piano intro of “Racing in the Street” filled the room, Bruce leaned into the mic and whispered a truth he’d never shared: “This song… it came from my heart, but its soul belongs to Brian.” He called Brian Wilson “the man who taught me how to turn loneliness into art, and the shoreline into memory.” No fireworks, no big announcement—just Springsteen, trembling, repaying a lifelong debt in front of a silent crowd. A tribute not built on volume, but reverence—quiet, eternal, and every bit as haunting as the melodies Brian once gave to the world

“Farewell, maestro,” he said of the late legend. “Nothing but love and a lovely lasting debt from all of us over here on E Street”

Bruce Springsteen posted a heartfelt tribute to the Beach Boys‘ Brian Wilson, who died at the age of 82.

“Brian Wilson was the most musically inventive voice in all of pop, with an otherworldly ear for harmony,” Springsteen wrote on Instagram. “He was also the visionary leader of America’s greatest band, the Beach Boys. If there’d been no Beach Boys, there would have been no ‘Racing In The Street.’ Listen to ‘Summer’s Gone’ from the Beach Boys’ last album That’s Why God Made the Radio and weep. Farewell, Maestro. Nothing but love and a lovely lasting debt from all of us over here on E Street.”

Wilson and Springsteen (who covered the Beach Boys live on a couple of rare occasions, including in 1985) performed onstage together a decade ago, when the latter was a surprise guest at the former’s New Jersey concert in 2015, with the pair delivering a medley of Beach Boys hits:

Springsteen’s statement echoes the many tributes that have come in following the news of Wilson’s death, from Paul McCartney (“I loved him, and was privileged to be around his bright shining light for a little while”) to Elton John (“the biggest influence on my songwriting ever”). When Bob Dylan heard about Wilson’s death, he “thought about all the years I’ve been listening to him and admiring his genius.”

Wilson’s family, including his daughter Carnie and cousin/bandmate Mike Love, also wrote tender tributes on social media. There were also tributes from founding Beach Boy Al Jardine, and actor John Stamos, who gigged with the group, off and on, for the past four decades. Others have honored Wilson with renditions of his classics, like Sting’s cover of “God Only Knows.”