Beach Boys' Mike Love honors late Brian Wilson at Songwriters Hall of Fame induction: ‘I do feel his presence'

New York Post

16 hours ago

It was a moment of bittersweet vibrations.
That was the mood when the Beach Boys frontman Mike Love was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame on Thursday night. The enshrinement at New York's Marriott Marquis came just one day after it was confirmed that his brilliant bandmate — and cousin — Brian Wilson died at 82.
While receiving the prestigious honor, Love, 84, paid tribute to Wilson, with whom he co-wrote Beach Boys classics such as 'I Get Around,' 'California Girls' and 'Good Vibrations.'
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4 'I do feel his presence,' said Love of his Beach Boys bandmate Brian Wilson at the Songwriters Hall of Fame induction.
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4 Together, we set the stage for some of the most successful music collaborations of all time,' said Love of Brian Wilson.
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'I especially want to thank my cousin Brian Wilson. I believe he's here with us,' he said.
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'My first cousin by blood but brother in music. Together, we set the stage for some of the most successful music collaborations of all time. I do feel his presence.'
Love was inducted by 'Full House' actor John Stamos, who has been an honorary Beach Boy playing drums and guitar with the band for 40 years.
Celebrating Love's role in creating 'the sound of a generation' in the '60s, Stamos saluted him as 'a composer whose melodies shaped millions of dreams, including all of us in this room.'
'The man we're honoring tonight didn't just write songs. He painted a Technicolor tableau of the American dream, surfboards, radios, convertibles, speeches, babes, heartbreaks and harmonies,' he continued. 'He made the whole world want to be us, sun-kissed, carefree, full of promise and optimism. His lyrics were cinematic, set to the soundtracks of fellow Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee, Brian Wilson.'
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4 Love and John Stamos performed Beach Boys hits 'California Girls,' 'I Get Around,' 'Kokomo' and ''Good Vibrations.'
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After accepting his honor 'with a full heart of gratitude, love and peace,' Love was joined by Stamos for a performance that included the Beach Boys hits 'California Girls,' 'I Get Around,' 'Kokomo' and 'Good Vibrations.'
It was Stamos, 61, who told Love that the long-troubled Wilson had died while they were traveling together to New York for the induction ceremony.
'I was with Mike, I got off the plane, and I got the text,' he exclusively told The Post on the red carpet. 'I was like, I said, 'Mike, your cousin passed away,' and his face went blank.'
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4 Dennis Wilson, Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine and Carl Wilson formed the Beach Boys in 1961.
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'And we sat in the car for two and a half hours or so … he didn't say one word,' he continued. 'And I didn't ask him anything, ask him how he was feeling. I knew how he was feeling.'
Joining Love in the Songwriters Hall of Fame class of 2025 were funk legend George Clinton, who was inducted by Living Colour; Doobie Brothers Michael McDonald, Tom Johnston and Patrick Simmons, saluted by Garth Brooks; R&B hitmaker Rodney Jerkins (Beyoncé, Whitney Houston), enshrined by Teddy Riley; country chart-topper Ashley Corley, initiated by Dan + Shay; and British tunesmith Tony Macaulay, feted by Debbie Gibson.
Meanwhile, 'Wicked' composer Stephen Schwartz received the Johnny Mercer Award, while 'That's So True' singer Gracie Abrams received the Hal David Starlight Award for young songwriters.