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Brian Wilson, Al Jardine speak out against the Beach Boys playing Donald Trump fundraiser

Ed Masley Arizona Republic


Brian Wilson and Al Jardine have spoken out against Mike Love's decision to have his touring version of The Beach Boys play a fundraiser for Donald Trump Sunday in Newport Beach, California.

Wilson and Jardine reached out to Variety through a spokesperson to say, "We have absolutely nothing to do with the Trump benefit today in Newport Beach. Zero. We didn’t even know about it and were very surprised to read about it in the Los Angeles Times.”

Tickets for the Trump campaign event ranged from $2,800 per donor to $150,000 a couple for co-chair status.

Love owns the license on the Beach Boys name for touring purpose, which led to Wilson and Jardine supporting a Change.org petition calling for a boycott of the touring Beach Boys after Love booked a headlining gig at the Safari Club International Convention in Reno, Nevada, with Donald Trump Jr. as the keynote speaker.  

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Love's support of Trump has never been a secret. His version of the Beach Boys headlined one of Trump's inaugural balls in 2017, Love telling Uncut magazine "that was a moving experience."

In that same interview, Love said, “I don’t have anything negative to say about the President of the USA,”

This latest friction between the former bandmates, who last set aside their differences for a 50th-anniversary tour in 2012, arrives just days before Love's Beach Boys make their way to Phoenix for a "Concerts in Your Car" performance at the Arizona State Fairgrounds.

More:Brian Wilson calls on fans to protest the Beach Boys upcoming show

Love made no mention of the Trump gig in a recent interview with The Arizona Republic about the Beach Boys drive-in, although he did discuss his strained relationship with Wilson, who's also his cousin.

Asked if he could see himself working with Wilson again, Love didn't hesitate to make it clear that he is always open to that prospect before quickly adding something guaranteed to make it hard to actually facilitate that next reunion.

"I could work with Brian anytime," he says. "That's not a problem. It's a question of whether he's permitted to come out and play."