John Stamos on Facebook: I’m boarding a plane to Nashville to play with the Beach Boys at the legendary Ryman Auditorium, and I’m struggling to put my feelings into words. My beloved friend, father figure, musical hero and mentor, Mike Love, is facing serious health challenges. We hope he’ll be doing what he loves for years to come, but we don’t know what the future holds. With that said, we have tonight.
Mike is a fighter. Despite his doctors, family and friends telling him to focus on his health he insists that he must be on stage. Mike tells us that he needs his band, his audience that loves him, his friends and drummer surrounding him to lift him up.
And something about that is hitting me harder than I expected.
I’ve been playing with Mike and the Beach Boys for 41 years. Forty-one years. That’s longer than I’ve done almost anything in my life. And while I always knew there would eventually come a day when things would change, I never really allowed myself to imagine what that day would feel like.
I’m not saying tonight is the end. God, I hope it isn’t. But there’s a part of me that wonders if this could be the last time I get to stand behind Mike, play those songs, watch him work an audience, and feel that indescribable magic that happens when those harmonies fill a room.
The Mike Love we see tonight may not be exactly the Mike Love we’ve known for all these years. But he is still every bit the Mike Love we love. The man is still there. The spirit is still there. The heart is still there. And the music, thank God, is still there.
When you look objectively at Mike’s contributions to popular music, they’re staggering. His lyrics, his hooks, his unmistakable voice, his optimism, his belief in the power of a simple song to make people feel good. He helped create music that has become part of the fabric of people’s lives. Music that has outlived trends, generations, and just about everything else the world has thrown at it.
He’s performed more than 7,000 live concerts. Think about that. Seven thousand nights of walking onto a stage and giving people a reason to smile, dance, remember, fall in love, or maybe just forget their troubles for a couple of hours.
That’s not just a career. That’s a lifetime of showing up for people.
And yet, as enormous as his musical contributions are, what he’s given me personally is somehow even greater.
. . . . . . . . . .
Go here to read the rest of Mr. Stamos’ tribute:
https://www.facebook.com/johnstamos
Photo: John Stamos & Mike Love | From John’s Facebook page/post
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1654715699345027&set=pcb.1654718206011443
