American singer and television host, the daughter of Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys and his first wife, singer Marilyn Rovell of The Honeys. Carnie Wilson co-founded the group Wilson Phillips with her younger sister Wendy and childhood friend Chynna Phillips when they were in their teens. They released two albums, Wilson Phillips and Shadows and Light, which between them sold 12 million copies. The group also charted three No. 1 singles and six top 20 hits in the United States before disbanding in 1993.
For 20 years Wilson’s life was dominated by obesity that reached up to 300 lbs (136 kg) on a 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m) frame. While on a diet and aiming hopefully, if briefly for 120 lbs (54 kg), she formed Wilson Phillips. Her diet was unsuccessful and she was heavy again in 1994, but made a bid as a talk show host on 4 September 1995. Two days prior, banker Steven Port, 29, had proposed to her; they were together for two years though they later separated.
Carnie’s dad had left when she was 11 and she did not become acquainted with him until she was in her 20s.
On 10 August 1999, she underwent a surgery in which the stomach and intestines were reformatted. Morbidly obese with close to 300 lbs (136 kg) to carry and wearing a dress size of 24, she hoped that the same procedure that Roseanne (Barr) went through would work for her. The procedure was broadcast live via the internet; the server crashed because the demand to view the procedure was so high. She had battled weight problems from childhood, craving sugar to the point of sneaking into the kitchen to eat powdered cake mix. By age ten, she had weighed 110 lbs (50 kg).
Wilson met Rob Bonfiglio, the guitarist for the rock band Blush in June 1999, just after she had decided to have the operation. In spite of her weight, it was instant attraction and in November, Rob proposed. Ten months after the surgery, she was down to 165 lbs (75 kg) when she and Rob sealed their vows on 23 June 2000 in Los Angeles with guests that included Wendy Wilson and Chynna Phillips. Six months later, she went public with her new image at 148 lbs (67 kg), almost 20 dress sizes less than before. She still needed surgery to remove excess skin, but was bursting with energy and high spirits. After years of exhaustion from such simple tasks as walking to the store, she now moved effortlessly and joyfully; shopping had become great fun. Her transformation was not only physical but an emotional high and she wore a smile that glowed.
On 22 April 2005 she gave birth to her first child, a daughter named Lola Sofia. During the pregnancy her weight blossomed to 240 lbs (109 kg); since Lola’s birth, despite a battle with post-partum depression, Wilson vowed to get the extra weight off. She wrote a cookbook, To Serve with Love (released 1 September 2005) and recorded a CD, A Mother’s Gift: Lullabies from the Heart (2006). Her daughter, Luciana Bella, was born on 12 June 2009 in Los Angeles.
In the spring of 2012, Carnie Wilson along with her sister Wendy Wilson and childhood best friend Chynna Phillips starred in their own reality show about the rebirth of her band Wilson Phillips. The show, Wilson Phillips: Still Holding On, logged the journey of the women getting back together to reform Wilson Phillips on the road, in the studio and at home as working mothers. A pilot episode aired in November 2011; seven additional episodes aired in April and May 2012.
On 18 March 2013, Wilson disclosed, through Twitter, that she had been diagnosed with Bell’s palsy.
On 26 August 2017, Carnie and her business partner, childhood friend Tiffany Miller, opened Love Bites by Carnie, a commercial production bakery and accompanying storefront cafe, in Sherwood, a suburb of Portland, Oregon.
Link to Wikipedia biography