The Beach Boys’ Mike Love returns to the stage despite ‘facing serious health challenges’ | Beach Boys

After months of cancelled comeback tours, the Beach Boys have played their first public show since July – with co-founder and frontman Mike Love joining the band on stage in Cincinnati, Ohio, despite “facing serious health challenges”.

Love was helped on to the stage by his son Christian Love and the actor and band member John Stamos, who told the audience at PNC Pavilion on Saturday night that Love has “been going through some health issues … but he would not miss tonight”.

“It’s what he loves the most,” Stamos said before the show. “He loves the audience, he loves the music. He knows how important it is to all of you. So we’re all here to support him and give him as much love as we can.”

The 85-year-old musician – who was wearing a cap, hoodie and scarf – remained seated for the performance, with a microphone positioned on a stand before him. He sang back-up vocals and spoke to the audience to thank them for coming to the show.

On Sunday night, Stamos shared an emotional message on Instagram about his “beloved friend, father figure, musical hero and mentor” as the band headed to Nashville, Tennessee, to play at the Ryman Auditorium with Love.

“My beloved friend, father figure, musical hero and mentor, Mike Love, is facing serious health challenges,” said the post. “We hope he’ll be doing what he loves for years to come, but we don’t know what the future holds. We have tonight.”

Stamos, who has played with the Beach Boys intermittently for 41 years, continued: “Mike is a fighter. Despite doctors, family and friends urging him to focus on his health, he insists on being on stage. He says he needs his band, the audience, his friends and drummer surrounding him to lift him up.”

The Full House actor wrote that “the Mike Love we see tonight may not be exactly the Mike we’ve always known. But he’s still every bit the Mike we love”.

In June, after performing in London’s Chelsea, Love shared on Instagram that he had been in recovery from bronchitis and later Covid.

He wrote: “Losing my sister, Maureen, on the first anniversary of cousin Brian’s death, combined with my ongoing recovery from what started out as bronchitis, followed by Covid, has taken both an emotional and physical toll on me.

“I feel stronger every day physically, but I am heartbroken emotionally. I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else than with our audience. For me, our audience is the medicine, and the music is the cure. Thank you all for your outpouring of love, well wishes, and healing prayers. I am deeply humbled and grateful.”

The Beach Boys’ Endless Summer tour continues in the US until 13 November, when the band are set to play at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Bristol, Virginia, followed by a make-up show on 8 May 2027 at River Cree Resort and Casino in Enoch, Alberta.

Al Jardine, the only other surviving original member of the Beach Boys, is touring his own show Al Jardine and the Pet Sounds Band, with four more US dates listed on their website.