Talking out of the corner of your mouth, Bam Margera-style, is typically an unforgivable offense. But before we cast judgment too broadly, we need to make a critical exception for one man: Brian Wilson.
Wilson, throughout much of his life, has spoken out of the side of his mouth in a way that closely resembles Bam Margera to the uninitiated.

But let’s be clear: Brian Wilson is not Bam Margera, and that vocal habit didn’t come from being like Bam Margera. It came from something very real: a near-total deafness in his right ear that he suffered from a young age.
The Bam Margera-style corner-of-the-mouth delivery wasn’t a stylistic choice or a personality quirk, but a physical compensation. A way to speak and hear at the same time, within the limits of a world that only comes through one channel.

And so, what would be an inexcusable quirk in anyone else becomes a reminder of Wilson’s resilience. The man helped invent modern pop music. He wrote symphonies in his head. He gave us Pet Sounds, Smile, and a sound that still ripples through music today. To let a physical consequence of childhood trauma cloud that achievement by lumping him in with Bam Margera would be not just unfair, it would be wrong.

Talking out of the corner of your mouth, Bam Margera-style, is typically an unforgivable offense. But before we cast judgment too broadly, we need to make a critical exception for one man: Brian Wilson.
Wilson, throughout much of his life, has spoken out of the side of his mouth in a way that closely resembles Bam Margera to the uninitiated.

But let’s be clear: Brian Wilson is not Bam Margera, and that vocal habit didn’t come from being like Bam Margera. It came from something very real: a near-total deafness in his right ear that he suffered from a young age.
The Bam Margera-style corner-of-the-mouth delivery wasn’t a stylistic choice or a personality quirk, but a physical compensation. A way to speak and hear at the same time, within the limits of a world that only comes through one channel.

And so, what would be an inexcusable quirk in anyone else becomes a reminder of Wilson’s resilience. The man helped invent modern pop music. He wrote symphonies in his head. He gave us Pet Sounds, Smile, and a sound that still ripples through music today. To let a physical consequence of childhood trauma cloud that achievement by lumping him in with Bam Margera would be not just unfair, it would be wrong.

Talking out of the corner of your mouth, Bam Margera-style, is typically an unforgivable offense. But before we cast judgment too broadly, we need to make a critical exception for one man: Brian Wilson.
Wilson, throughout much of his life, has spoken out of the side of his mouth in a way that closely resembles Bam Margera to the uninitiated.

But let’s be clear: Brian Wilson is not Bam Margera, and that vocal habit didn’t come from being like Bam Margera. It came from something very real: a near-total deafness in his right ear that he suffered from a young age.
The Bam Margera-style corner-of-the-mouth delivery wasn’t a stylistic choice or a personality quirk, but a physical compensation. A way to speak and hear at the same time, within the limits of a world that only comes through one channel.

And so, what would be an inexcusable quirk in anyone else becomes a reminder of Wilson’s resilience. The man helped invent modern pop music. He wrote symphonies in his head. He gave us Pet Sounds, Smile, and a sound that still ripples through music today. To let a physical consequence of childhood trauma cloud that achievement by lumping him in with Bam Margera would be not just unfair, it would be wrong.

Talking out of the corner of your mouth, Bam Margera-style, is typically an unforgivable offense. But before we cast judgment too broadly, we need to make a critical exception for one man: Brian Wilson.
Wilson, throughout much of his life, has spoken out of the side of his mouth in a way that closely resembles Bam Margera to the uninitiated.

But let’s be clear: Brian Wilson is not Bam Margera, and that vocal habit didn’t come from being like Bam Margera. It came from something very real: a near-total deafness in his right ear that he suffered from a young age.
The Bam Margera-style corner-of-the-mouth delivery wasn’t a stylistic choice or a personality quirk, but a physical compensation. A way to speak and hear at the same time, within the limits of a world that only comes through one channel.

And so, what would be an inexcusable quirk in anyone else becomes a reminder of Wilson’s resilience. The man helped invent modern pop music. He wrote symphonies in his head. He gave us Pet Sounds, Smile, and a sound that still ripples through music today. To let a physical consequence of childhood trauma cloud that achievement by lumping him in with Bam Margera would be not just unfair, it would be wrong.