Melinda Ledbetter

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

Melinda Ledbetter
Born
Melinda Kae Ledbetter[1]

(1946-10-03) October 3, 1946[2]
United States
Other namesMelinda Wilson[3][4]
OccupationTalent manager, model, car salesperson
Years active1990s–present
OrganizationBriMel Music
Spouse(s)
​
(m. 1995)​

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 Ledbetter and Wilson's 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] In 2015, Wilson credited Ledbetter for assisting with some of the production of his album No Pier Pressure.[9]

Love & Mercy

Half of the 2014 Brian Wilson biopic Love & Mercy is set from Ledbetter's point of view in the 1980s, with Elizabeth Banks playing Ledbetter. Love & Mercy screenwriter Oren Moverman stated that virtually every event in the film's 1980s portions was sourced from conversations he had with Ledbetter.[6] She 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."[10]

Disputes

In the mid 1990s, Wilson collaborated with multi-instrumentalist Andy Paley on tracks earmarked for a potential Beach Boys comeback album. It was reported that Ledbetter influenced Wilson to scrap the project in favor of a new album with former wrestler Joe Thomas.[11][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.[12] Thomas reciprocated with a suit citing that Ledbetter "schemed against and manipulated" him and Wilson. The case was settled out of court.[13]

According to Beach Boy Mike Love, the group's 50th anniversary reunion tour involving all original surviving members ended prematurely, partly due to interference from Ledbetter.[14][15] 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 an autotune unit on each of the band members' microphones. This was the beginning of some backstage quarrels between Love and Ledbetter, which ended with his stipulating that she be banned from rehearsals until the tour was over.[16]

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. Fine, Jason (July 8, 1999). "Brian Wilson's Summer Plans". Rolling Stone.
  6. Weintraub, Steve (June 6, 2015). "LOVE & MERCY Screenwriter Oren Moverman on Brian Wilson's Mythology, Fact vs. Fiction, and More". Collider. Archived from the original on June 7, 2015.
  7. 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. Amarosi, A.D. (June 2015). "Wouldn't it be nice..." Icon.
  10. Phull, Hardeep (June 4, 2015). "How one quack doctor almost destroyed Brian Wilson's career". New York Post.
  11. Lester, Paul (June 1998). "The High Llamas: Hump Up the Volume". Uncut.
  12. "Bad Vibrations: Brian Wilson Sues Collaborator". Rolling Stone. August 24, 1999.
  13. "Brian Wilson Settles Suit With Former Partner". Rolling Stone. July 18, 2000.
  14. "Beach Boys' Mike Love opens up relationship with cousin Brian Wilson". CBS News. September 15, 2016.
  15. Love, Mike (2016). Good Vibrations: My Life as a Beach Boy. Penguin Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-698-40886-9.
  16. Love 2016, p. 398-99.
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