Dean Torrence, the last surviving member of surf-pop duo Jan and Dean, has spoken to Rolling Stone about the car crash that derailed the group's career 60 years ago. Torrence and Jan Berry formed the act as schoolboys in Los Angeles in 1957, scoring early hits before achieving global fame in the 1960s alongside the Beach Boys with songs including "Surf City." Their success was cut short when Berry suffered a near-fatal crash in 1966, close to the location made famous in their own song "Dead Man's Curve," leaving him with lasting brain damage and partial paralysis.

Berry's accident occurred on 12 April 1966 and left him impaired until his death in 2004. Torrence, unusually for a pop star, had continued studying at university throughout the band's early success, later using his design degree to found the graphic design firm Kittyhawk, producing album covers for artists including Chicago and the Beach Boys. Now 86, Torrence still performs occasionally with his group the Surf City All-Stars and spoke to Rolling Stone from his Southern California garden.