People call them ‘America’s Band’ and they’re not wrong, considering the Beach Boys were around before the British Invasion, withstood the influx of British pop and emerged on the other side more popular than ever. Their wonderful harmonies evoked sun-drenched vistas through the 60s, 70s and beyond.

Cousins Brian Wilson and Mike Love used to get together and sing at school dances and sock hops in the early 60s, plying their pop sound as The Pendletones. They recorded their first single in 1961, “Surfin,” a doo-wop tune that really won the crowds over in California, steeped as it was in surfing culture. By 1962, the band had a record contract and a new name: The Beach Boys. Brian Wilson started writing and arranging most of the band’s songs, releasing numerous hits like “Surfin’ Safari” and “Surfin’ U.S.A.” Only one member of the group, Brian’s younger brother Dennis, surfed but singing about surfing, cars and bikini babes was a successful formula. Brian continued to produce hits laden with harmony, like “Surfer Girl” and “In My Room.”

By the mid-60s, the Beach Boys were established enough to go up against Beatlemania and survive. In 1964 they had four Top 10 singles which have become classics: “Fun, Fun, Fun,” “Dance, Dance, Dance,” “When I Grow Up (To Be a Man)” and their first #1 hit, “I Get Around.” The following year Brian Wilson pulled out of the group’s intensive touring schedule to concentrate on writing and producing the music, coming up with hits like “California Girls” and “Help Me, Rhonda.” They also released The Beach Boys Party, featuring the band jamming on acoustic guitars and improvising.

The next album was Pet Sounds, a departure from fun-in-the-sun songs, that explored the vagaries of love and relationships. It included songs like “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” and “Sloop John B” and while it only reached the #10 spot in the US charts, the album became a fan favorite. “Good Vibrations” was released next and the single’s harmonies and lush instrumentation propelled it to the top of the charts. At this time, Brian Wilson started feeling the pressure of all these successes and suffered a nervous breakdown, forcing the other members to assume writing and producing duties. They released Wild Honey that included two Top 40 hits, “Darlin” and “Wild Honey.”

In the late 60s, two more albums—Friends and 20/20—didn’t have the usual Beach Boys success in the US but were smash hits in England. Their sound continued to evolve and change in the early 70s with albums like Sunflower, Surf’s Up and Holland. They also toured extensively in the mid-70s, releasing a double live album, The Beach Boys In Concert and then a compilation album, Endless Summer. In 1976, Brian Wilson emerged back into the scene, producing the band’s studio album, 15 Big Ones, a Top 10 triumph.

The early 80s weren’t stellar years for the Beach Boys, what with Brian Wilson’s continued problems with mental illness and drug addiction and Dennis’s drowning death in 1983. The group survived however, releasing a self-titled album in 1985 and the smash single “Kokomo” in 1988. Another Wilson brother and band member, Carl, succumbed to cancer that same year.

A few albums by the remaining Beach Boys peppered the 90s but also saw court battles between the members over the rights to songs and the band’s name. In 2006, they did reunite despite their differences to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Pet Sounds.