Beach Boys at $150K Trump fundraiser? Mike Love slammed as ‘piece of s**t who stole name’ from Brian Wilson

Brian Wilson wasn’t informed about Beach Boys’ Trump fundraiser appearance by Mike Love and isn’t happy about the band’s participation

Brian Wilson and Mike Love (Getty Images)

Mike Love, one of the co-founders of the iconic rock group the Beach Boys and a well-known Trump supporter, has come under fire on social media websites for performing at a fundraiser for the current president. Love, who holds license to the band’s name, is performing with the touring edition of the legendary group at an Orange County, California fundraiser. But, in the latest turn of events, the show, being held on Sunday (October 18) night, has been disavowed by Brian Wilson, another co-founder and original member of the Beach Boys.

According to a report by Variety, Wilson wasn’t informed about the band’s appearance. The report also states that Wilson is not happy about the band’s participation in the fundraiser. Speaking to Variety, a spokesperson for Wilson and fellow co-founder Al Jardine said, “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.” Earlier, The Los Angeles Times reported that tickets to the pricey affair start at $2,800 a head, and run all the way up to $150,000 for a couple.

People were quick to react to the news published by the LA Times. Most users slammed Love for supporting Trump once again and called him out after Wilson and Jardine’s statement to Variety became public. One Twitter user bluntly said, “Brian Wilson is the Beach Boys. Mike Love is a piece of shit. End of story,” while another simply tweeted, “Mike Love is an a**hole.”

Another, talking about Love, wrote, “Since everyone’s talking about how Mike Love sucks, my favorite thing about him is that in every interview he says he came up with the hook for Good Vibrations but inevitably explains that the song was done & he came up with lyrics to match the bassline that was already written.” A different user, piling onto Love, added, “It’s all a big waste of time, money, energy. Mike Love is allowing Trump to scoot his taint all over the Beach Boys literally for nothing. Why is Trump campaigning in California two weeks out anyway?”

An account under the name Palmer Report tweeted: Mike Love is the kind of piece of shit who stole the “Beach Boys” name and tours under it even though he’s not The Beach Boys, so naturally he’s a Trump supporter.” Author Don Winslow, replying to the LA Times report, said, “Dear LA Times, Your STORY here is BULLSHIT. It’s NOT the Beach Boys! More than half the Beach Boys are dead. It’s Mike Love’s bullshit touring garage band. BRIAN WILSON IS THE BEACH BOYS. PERIOD. FULL STOP. AND HE HAS CONDEMNED THE USE OF THE BEACH BOYS NAME FOR THIS EVENT.” A different user, reiterating this point, said, “At best, Mike Love has a Beach Boys tribute band. The real Beach Boys are Brian Wilson & Al Jardine. If you want to see the real Mike Love, look up Love’s speech at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame where he offended several artists & made a fool of himself.”

Calling Love an “a**hole”, a user tweeted, “Just a reminder, the Beach Boys aren’t actually the Beach Boys. It’s just the a**hole Mike love using the name and singing whatever s***ty songs he wrote.”

Out of curiosity, you can check out Love’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame speech below.

In February 2020, Wilson spoke out against Beach Boys’ set at a hunting convention that Donald Trump Jr. was the keynote speaker for. Wison said, “There’s nothing we can do personally to stop the show, so please join us in signing the petition at https://www.change.org/p/beach-boys-stop-supporting-trophy-hunting.” Love responded saying that he and Beach Boys “support freedom of thought and expression as a fundamental tenet of our rights as Americans.”

Also, in 2017, Love’s Beach Boys headlined a Trump inaugural ball about which the 79-year-old singer said, “That was a moving experience. Donald Trump has never been anything but kind to us. We have known him for many a year. We’ve performed at some of his venues at fundraisers and so on.”

One of the most critically acclaimed and commercially successful bands of all time, the Beach Boys have sold over 100 million records and charted over 80 songs worldwide. Thirty-six of their songs have been in the Top 40, the most by a US rock band, including four Billboard Hot 100 topping tracks. Their influence spans genres such as psychedelia, power pop, progressive rock, punk, alternative and lo-fi. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked them #12 on its list of the greatest artists of all time. The original lineup – brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine – were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.