Brothers Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson were founding members of which iconic band?

The Beach Boys are an American rock band formed in California in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their friend Al Jardine. Distinguished by their vocal harmonies and early surf songs, they are one of the most influential acts of the rock era. The band drew on the music of jazz-based vocal groups, black rhythm and blues, and 1950s rock and roll, to create their unique sound. With Brian as composer, arranger, producer, and "de facto" leader, they often incorporated classical or jazz elements and unconventional recording techniques in innovative ways.

One of the first self-contained rock groups, the Beach Boys began as a garage band led by Brian and managed by the Wilsons' father Murry. In 1963, the group gained national prominence with a string of top-ten singles reflecting a southern California youth culture of surfing, cars, and romance, dubbed the "California sound".

Carl took over as the band's musical leader until the late 1970s. Personal struggles, creative disagreements, and the overshadowing success of the band's greatest hits albums precipitated their transition into an oldies act. Dennis drowned in 1983 and Brian soon became estranged from the group. Between the 1990s and 2000s, the members filed numerous lawsuits against each other. Following Carl's death from lung cancer in 1998, the group granted Love legal rights to tour as "the Beach Boys".