Al Jardine saw the same footage of a struggling Mike Love performing with the Beach Boys at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville on Sunday (Oct. 11), and despite their years of animosity and legal battles, he said he felt for his former bandmate of more than six decades.
“It’s shocking and I was really depressed,” Jardine told Rolling Stone about his concern for Love, 85, performing with the surf pop legends at a time when the last remaining original member of the group is struggling with his health. “I had to really shake myself out of it just to get onstage. Just the optics of it were just awful and I’m speechless,” he said of the feelings he had watching Love remain seated during the band’s show and sing the occasional background as the bandleader told the audience that he’s been “going through some health issues for quite a while.”
That same night, Jardine, 84, the only other surviving member of the Beach Boys, was playing his own show with fellow former Beach Boys band members Bruce Johnston and David Marks at the Cerritos Center for the Performing arts in Cerritos, Calif. His gig also featured appearances from Carnie Wilson (late Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson’s daughter and member of the 1990s group Wilson Phillips), Marilyn Wilson (Brian Wilson’s first wife), as well as Jan and Dean’s Dean Torrence.
Just hours before, Love performed what might have been one of his final shows with the group he helped co-found with his cousins Brian, Dennis and Carl Wilson (and friend Jardine) after playing more than 7,000 gigs with his group over 65 years. And while Jardine and Love are not in regular contact, the ex-Beach Boy said he hopes his former bandmate doesn’t try to keep the endless summer going for much longer.
“I would hope not,” he said when asked by RS if he thinks the band are going to play more shows. “That’s just not right, that I can see. Obviously, he’s a total pro. He wants to be onstage, but he just doesn’t know how not to do it. He doesn’t know what else to do, so I think he’s trapped.”
Love has sued guitarist-singer Jardine several times over his use of the Beach Boys name, including in 2003 for touring under the names Beach Boys Family & Friends, Al Jardine, Beach Boy and Al Jardine of the Beach Boys, claiming that the gigs represented unfair competition with the Love-led Beach Boys.
While it’s unclear what issues Love is struggling with, longtime friend and honorary occasional Beach Boys member actor John Stamos wrote a lengthy letter ahead of Sunday’s Ryman gig, which came after the Beach Boys hit pause on a planned six-week summer tour in July to allow Love time to “recharge.”
“My beloved friend, father figure, musical hero and mentor, Mike Love, is facing serious health challenges,” said Stamos, who did not go into details about Love’s health; in June, Love revealed on Instagram that he’d been struggling following the death of his sister, Maureen, and was battling bronchitis and COVID. “We hope he’ll be doing what he loves for years to come, but we don’t know what the future holds. We have tonight.”
He added, “Mike is a fighter. Despite doctors, family and friends urging him to focus on his health, he insists on being on stage. He says he needs his band, the audience, his friends and drummer surrounding him to lift him up.”
The Beach Boys have a handful of upcoming dates on their schedule, including a Nov. 11 performance at Walt Disney World’s Epcot theme park in Orlando, Fla., and a Nov. 13 show at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Bristol, Va., as well as a May 8, 2027 booking at River Cree Resort and Casino in Enoch, Alberta, Canada.
