NEW YORK – Mike Love is looking back fondly on Brian Wilson, his cousin and Beach Boys collaborator who died Wednesday at 82.
“It’s a tough one,” Love shared with The Associated Press on Thursday. “Life eventually ends for all of us, yet he led an amazing life given his creativity, and cocreating with him was a joy. We truly have an abundance of blessings.”
On Thursday night, Love is being honored with an induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, a recognition Wilson received in 2000. Actor and musician John Stamos, a recent collaborator with the Beach Boys and participant in select tour dates resuming Friday in New York, will introduce Love.
“I edited a really touching video of Mike and Brian performing the song ‘Brian’s Back,’ written by Brian and Mike. I hope to present it, with his consent, at the beginning of the show,” Stamos remarked. “I imagine starting with it, although I expect it will be quite an emotional challenge to get through.”
He added of his admiration for Wilson and the band: “Without the Beach Boys, life would be a mistake. And that’s that.”
“It’s in the better late than never category, but I feel my cousin’s presence tonight very strongly,” Love told the AP of his inclusion in Songwriters Hall of Fame. “You know, we did it together, and so that part’s inseparable, and we always had a great love for each other. So it’s really nice to be honored, though, and recognized for my contribution to the Beach Boys music.”
Love and Wilson wrote the Beach Boys’ first hit, “Surfin’,” in 1961. The pair feuded over songwriting credits for Love, who successfully sued, contending he was deprived songwriting credits on dozens of songs.
“This is a songwriter’s songwriter,” Stamos said of Love before the ceremony: “He painted this cinematic view of California that made the whole world wanna be us because of him. Optimism, positivity, good vibes.”
Stamos added: “Brian was a genius, but Mike was a little bit underrated because of … you know, Brian’s big genius.”
Love said he enjoys witnessing the joy the Beach Boys music brings to fans on tour. “It’s wonderful because you see the audience response and people 60 years after we started are loving our music and that’s really a wonderful thing. You see how much joy, not only in America but around the world, that our songs have created with people. So it’s a fantastic thing,” he said,
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