The Beach Boys are a pop music group formed in Hawthorne, California in 1961 who are widely considered one of the most influential bands in rock and pop music history. They have recorded dozens of Top 40 hits (including four US #1 singles), many best-selling albums, and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.

The original group comprised singer-musician-composer Brian Wilson, his brothers Carl and Dennis, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Alan Jardine. Many changes in both musical style and personnel have occurred in their sometimes-stormy career: Brian Wilson's mental illness, drug addiction and eventual withdrawal from the group; the deaths of Dennis Wilson in 1983 and Carl Wilson in 1998; and continuing legal battles among surviving members of the group.

The Beach Boys officially broke up in 1998 shortly after Carl Wilson's death, however Mike Love and Bruce Johnston maintain the rights to the name and continue to tour with their own band as The Beach Boys.

The group was formed in 1961 in Hawthorne, California under the leadership of Brian Wilson, and included his brothers Carl and Dennis, their cousin Mike Love and school friend Al Jardine.

The early inspirations of the group were the Wilsons' musician father, Murry, and the close vocal harmonies of groups such as The Four Freshmen. The group performed initially as The Pendletones, after the Pendleton woolen shirts popular then. Although surfing motifs were very prominent in their early songs, Dennis was the sole actual surfer in the group. He suggested to his brothers that they do some songs celebrating his hobby and the lifestyle which had developed around it in Southern California.