In 1961, Brian Wilson formed The Beach Boys with brothers Carl and Dennis, cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Enjoying immense success, the California surf-pop group released hits like “Surfin’ USA” and “I Get Around.” Sadly, Brian Wilson died on June 11, 2025, of respiratory failure at age 82. As he mourns his cousin and bandmate, Mike Love recently opened up about the last time the pair harmonized together.
The Beach Boys’ Mike Love Remembers His Cousin
Suffering from dementia following wife Melinda Ledbetter’s death, a Los Angeles judge placed Brian Wilson under a conservatorship in May 2024. Mike Love, his cousin and Beach Boys bandmate, still visited him frequently. And in a recent interview with The Daily Express, the 84-year-old Grammy winner said that Wilson’s love for music stayed strong to the very end.
“I was able to visit Brian three weeks before he passed,” Love said. “What Brian wanted me to do was to sing for him.
First, Wilson requested The Beach Boys’ 1964 song “Fun, Fun, Fun,” which his cousin obliged. Next, he wanted “Surfin’ USA.” Once Love had sung that and “I Get Around,” the cousins harmonized on a song called “Their Hearts Were Full Of Spring.”
“That was a song by The Four Freshmen, a group which was a huge influence on The Beach Boys’ harmonies,” Love said.
With a smile, he continued, “Brian had trouble forming a sentence. But he had no problem asking me to sing, and he had no problem with that harmony. It was a very sweet moment.”
Mike Love Pays Tribute to the “Heart and Soul” of Band
After news broke of The Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson’s death on June 11, Mike Love penned a tender tribute to his cousin and bandmate on Instagram.
“Today, the world lost a genius, and I lost a cousin by blood and my partner in music,” Love wrote. “Brian Wilson wasn’t just the heart of The Beach Boys—he was the soul of our sound. From the first time we sang together as kids in my living room, I knew there was something otherworldly in him.”
He continued, “May you rest in the peace you so deeply deserve, surrounded by the heavenly music you helped create. May your spirit soar as high as your falsetto, may your wings spread in effortless flight. Thank you for the harmonies, the memories, and the love.”
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