Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys says he cut Frank Ocean from his 11th solo album
No Pier Pressure by Brian Wilson (Brimel/Capitol Records).
American singer-songwriter Brian Wilson (co-founder of legendary rock band The Beach Boys) tells Vulture that Frank Ocean was cut from his upcoming 11th studio album, No Pier Pressure, because “he wanted to do rap.”
Ocean and Lana Del Ray were originally slated to appear on the record, alongside a number of other young artists, but neither made the final lineup. Reporter Lauretta Charlton asked Wilson about their omission, and he replied:
Well, Frank Ocean didn’t want to do the song. He wanted to do rap, so we canceled him. Lana Del Rey just canceled out on us.
Despite their creative differences, Ocean is a big fan of Wilson. At the 2013 Time 100 Gala, Ocean told a reporter from MTV that he’s drawing inspiration from The Beach Boys while writing his prospective third album, stating:
When I was making the first [album], there were a group of artists that I listened to for inspiration and just to absorb the energies. It was a lot of Stevie Wonder, and this time, it’s a lot of The Beach Boys and Beatles and whatnot, so we’ll see how it trickles into the music and the final product.
Check out Brian Wilson’s full interview at vulture.com. No Pier Pressure is set to debut on April 7, 2015, via Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and other music platforms.
Update 2026-04-08:
Following his passing in 2025, the late Brian Wilson’s longtime friend and manager, Jean Siever, wrote about the legendary musician’s legacy for A Rabbit’s Foot. Siever mentioned Wilson’s unreleased collaboration with Frank Ocean while discussing his influence across generations:
Brian was aware of his impact, and he knew he had a responsibility, too, to live up to that. He inspired everyone, so many musicians and artists. We would see anyone from Billy Idol, Metallica, and Springsteen at our shows. We got a request from Tyler The Creator once, My Morning Jacket. Patti Smith, The Ramones. So many artists of all types really loved and respected him. Nobody really knows this, but I believe we have a track with Frank Ocean that never came out. We’ve got it somewhere. He did a track with Lana Del Rey, too. The list goes on and on. If you listen to the track “Love & Mercy,” his solo song that the film is named after, it’s exactly what the world needs to hear right now. He knew that he had created something irreversibly important, special, and impactful.
The feature article is available at a-rabbitsfoot.com.
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