Melinda Ledbetter

Melinda Ledbetter
Born Melinda Kae Ledbetter[1]
(1946-10-03) October 3, 1946[2]
United States
Other names Melinda Wilson[3][4]
Occupation Talent manager, model, car salesperson
Years active 1990s–present
Organization BriMel Music
Spouse(s)
Brian Wilson (m. 1995)

Melinda Kae Ledbetter (born October 3, 1946), also known as Melinda Wilson, is an American talent manager who is the wife of singer-songwriter Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. She was formerly a model and car saleswoman.[5] Shortly after meeting Wilson in 1986, she helped instigate the court-ordered separation between him and his therapist Eugene Landy.[5] These events were later dramatized in Bill Pohlad's 2014 biopic Love & Mercy, in which Ledbetter is portrayed by Elizabeth Banks.[6][7]

Personal life and career

While working at a car dealership in 1986, Ledbetter met Brian Wilson while he was a patient under Eugene Landy's 24-hour therapy.[5] Six months after meeting Wilson, she had reported Landy to the state's attorney general for ethical violations, but they informed her that nothing could be done without the cooperation of Wilson's family. Three years into their relationship, Landy ordered Wilson to sever ties with Ledbetter.[7] After Landy was struck with a 1991 court order which barred him from contacting Wilson,[7] Wilson and Ledbetter reconnected and were married on February 6, 1995.[8] Ledbetter went on to become Wilson's manager in 1999, a job which she says is "basically negotiating, and that's what I did every single day when I sold cars."[5]

The 2014 biopic Love & Mercy featured Elizabeth Banks as Ledbetter, depicting her initial involvement with Wilson and Landy. The real Ledbetter said after watching the film: "I remembered that what Landy did to Brian was even worse. You don’t get a sense of it in the movie, but it happened on a daily basis, for years.[9]

In 2015, Wilson credited Ledbetter for assisting with some of the production of his album No Pier Pressure.[6]

Disputes

In the mid 1990s, Wilson collaborated with multi-instrumentalist Andy Paley on tracks earmarked for a potential Beach Boys comeback album. In 1998, the magazine Uncut wrote that Brian was "coerced away from Andy Paley (by wife Melinda, according to observers), toward [producer] Joe Thomas."[10] Rolling Stone's Jason Fine reported: "She calls the Paley–Wilson material 'great therapy' but says his vocals are not up to par and believes the production isn't good enough to be released commercially. As is often the case with Brian's career, Brian doesn't seem to be the one calling the shots."[5] In 1999, a suit was filed against Thomas, seeking damages and a declaration which freed Wilson to work on his next album without involvement from Thomas.[11] Thomas reciprocated with a suit citing that Ledbetter "schemed against and manipulated" him and Wilson. The case was settled out of court.[12]

According to Beach Boy Mike Love, the group's 50th anniversary reunion tour involving all original surviving members was ended prematurely partly due to interference from Ledbetter.[13][14] He expressed disappointment that he was never allowed to collaborate with Wilson for the album That's Why God Made the Radio, as had been promised, and that during the performances, she attempted to install five autotune units on each of the band members' microphones. This was the beginning of some backstage quarrels between Love and Ledbetter, which ended with him stipulating that she be banned from rehearsals until the tour was over.[14]

References

  1. ↑ Holdship, Bill (August 1995). "Lost in Music" (PDF). MOJO. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 30, 1998.
  2. ↑ "United States Public Records, 1970-2009". FamilySearch. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
  3. ↑ Gilstrap, Peter (June 8, 2015). "Brian and Melinda Wilson on unflinching biopic Love & Mercy: "It had to be factual"". LA Weekly.
  4. ↑ Visci, Marissa (June 10, 2015). "Here's What's Fact and What's Fiction in Love & Mercy, the New Biopic About Brian Wilson". Slate.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Fine, Jason (July 8, 1999). "Brian Wilson's Summer Plans". Rolling Stone.
  6. 1 2 Amarosi, A.D. (June 2015). "Wouldn't it be nice..." Icon.
  7. 1 2 3 Mason, Anthony (July 19, 2015). "Brian Wilson's summer of milestones". CBS News.
  8. ↑ "The Hatchet Will Be Buried in Sand". New York Magazine. New York Media, LLC. 28 (6): 14. February 6, 1996. ISSN 0028-7369.
  9. ↑ Phull, Hardeep (June 4, 2015). "How one quack doctor almost destroyed Brian Wilson's career". New York Post.
  10. ↑ Lester, Paul (June 1998). "The High Llamas: Hump Up the Volume". Uncut.
  11. ↑ "Bad Vibrations: Brian Wilson Sues Collaborator". Rolling Stone. August 24, 1999.
  12. ↑ "Brian Wilson Settles Suit With Former Partner". Rolling Stone. July 18, 2000.
  13. ↑ CBS News (September 15, 2016). "Beach Boys' Mike Love opens up relationship with cousin Brian Wilson". CBS.
  14. 1 2 Love, Mike (2016). Good Vibrations: My Life as a Beach Boy. Penguin Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-698-40886-9.
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