Tributes continue to pour in following the death on June 11 of music legend Brian Wilson at the age of 82.
Among those paying homage is Beach Boys co-founder Al Jardine, who spent part of his childhood in Irondequoit’s Summerville neighborhood.
“Brian Wilson, my friend, my classmate, my football teammate, my Beach Boy bandmate and my brother in spirit, I will always feel blessed that you were in our lives for as long as you were,” Jardine said in a statement. “I think the most comforting thought right now is that you are reunited with Carl and Dennis (Wilson), singing those beautiful harmonies again. You were a humble giant who always made me laugh and we will celebrate your music forever. Brian, I’ll really miss you … still I have the warmth of the sun within me tonight.”
The band was formed in 1961 by the Wilson brothers, their cousin Mike Love and Jardine, a friend.
Jardine, who supplied lead vocals on “Help Me, Rhonda,” toured with the Beach Boys throughout the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s and left the band after Carl Wilson’s death in 1998.
In 2019, in advance of being inducted into the Rochester Music Hall of Fame, he told the Democrat and Chronicle that Lake Ontario is where he found his love for big waves and open water.
During a Hall of Fame performance of “Surfin’ USA” at the Eastman Theatre, audience members bopped beach balls back and forth across the venue and sang along to the 1963 hit.
Jardine was born in Lima, Ohio, but when he was a boy his family moved to Irondequoit after his photographer dad took a job with Eastman Kodak. (He also taught at Rochester Institute of Technology.)
The family later relocated to Southern California, where Jardine met the Wilsons and Love.
The group’s sublime harmonizing on beach- and car-themed songs such as “California Girls” and “Little Deuce Coupe” came to define the Southern California ethos, while the inspired orchestration on the Brian Wilson-produced album “Pet Sounds” (1966) caused a bowled-over Beatles to respond with “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” (1967).
In March, Jardine announced a tour with Brian Wilson’s backing group, The Pet Sounds Band, which had been inactive since Wilson stopped performing in 2022.
The group has shows booked through September, according to Jardine’s website. Now 82, he told Rolling Stone he didn’t consider the tour to be a long-term proposition.
“I don’t think my voice will be that great in my 90s, but you never know,” he says. “I know that it’s Mike’s ambition to be doing this at 102.”
The Beach Boys, fronted by Love, have a show at 5 p.m. July 6 at Constellation Brands-Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center in Hopewell. John Stamos is the special guest. Tickets (starting at $35) are available at Ticketmaster.com.
Contributing: USA TODAY Network
Reporter Marcia Greenwood covers general assignments and has an interest in retail news. Send story tips to mgreenwo@rocheste.gannett.com. Follow her on X @MarciaGreenwood.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Beach Boys co-founder with Irondequoit ties remembers ‘brother in spirit’ Brian Wilson
Reporting by Marcia Greenwood, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle / Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
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