It's been rumored ... discussed ... denied ... pooh-pooh'ed as impossible ... and yet dreamed about for decades ... but earlier this morning, on The Official First Day Of Summer ... The Spinner Website ran THIS headline ... along with THESE comments from Mike Love of The Beach Boys:
Brian Wilson 'to Rejoin Beach Boys,' Says Mike Love
After decades of bad blood, recriminations and law suits, Brian Wilson is set to reunite with the other surviving members of the Beach Boys -- Mike Love and Al Jardine -- to mark the 50th anniversary of the band's inception, according to comments by Love in the Las Vegas Sun. Love still performs under the Beach Boys name alongside another veteran member, Bruce Johnston. Wilson made a triumphant return to the spotlight in 2002 when he performed the 'Pet Sounds' album in full at London's Royal Festival Hall, and in 2004 performed his incomplete masterpiece 'Smile' at the same venue. He has sporadically toured since then. Love said, "We're gearing up for the 50th anniversary and Brian Wilson, who has been working on some unfinished Gershwin music project, will rejoin us. "I'm sad that Carl Wilson passed away 11, 12 years ago from the same lung cancer problem that claimed the life of George Harrison. That was not a fun time for us." The surviving Beach Boys last appeared publicly in 2006 for a press conference marking 40 years since 'Pet Sounds'. Of the original members, Carl Wilson died of cancer in 1998 and Dennis Wilson drowned in 1983. Love, who once described 'Smile' as a "whole album of Brian's madness," also spoke about the current incarnation of the Beach Boys, saying, "We're still out there doing 150 shows a year, and the sound has reached all the way around the globe. Close your eyes and not only do we today replicate exactly how the original songs sounded, but the technology has gotten better so we even sound better. Yes, the line-up has changed over the years, but it's been pretty consistent the past several years."
