Beach Boys are hopeful Brian Wilson can make new music with them.
The 81-year-old musician has been placed under a conservatorship after the death of his wife, Melinda Ledbetter Wilson, due to struggling with a “major neurocognitive disorder”, but his cousin and former bandmate in the ‘Good Vibrations’ group, Mike Love, 83, says his musical abilities are still intact and they’d love to get in the studio again.
Appearing on BBC Radio 4’s ‘Today’ programme, Mike said: “We got together at Paradise Cove (in Los Angeles) at the end of the documentary.
“He was remembering things I’d forgotten about our high school days. His long-term memory is right there.
“His musical abilities, as long as he’s alive he’ll have those, but he does need medical supervision and care. His wife did take care of that.”
The band are promoting their Disney+ documentary, ‘The Beach Boys’, which hits the streaming platform on May 24, and the ‘God Only Knows’ hitmakers see it as a “new beginning”.
Mike continued: “He (Wilson) knows that he needs the help but we’re still able to get together and we‘re going to see each other soon.
“It’s not so negative as it sounds. As long as he’s cared for properly. He’s seeing his children… he’s being well taken care of.”
Band member Bruce Johnston, 81, said: “I think once Brian and Mike sit round the piano and just the magic, you can’t stop it”.
Mike said: “It’s a brand new day now and I’m hoping we can do something together – all of us – and it’ll be great.”
The 60s’ surf rock legends – who have had a tumultuous past – have toured as two separate groups, with Brian and Al Jardine, 81, performing together.
And Mike has been keen for a proper reunion for several years.
He told Rolling Stone in 2018: “Anything that’s creative and done for positive reasons is good with me.
“We will continue thinking about stuff like that and see what we can do.”
He also previously said he’d like to see them reunite at Glastonbury.
The ‘I Get Around’ hitmaker sees the group playing the world-famous festival’s Sunday afternoon legends slot at Worthy Farm in Somerset, south west England, which has seen the likes of Lionel Richie, Bee Gees’ Barry Gibb, Jeff Lynne, Dolly Parton and Dame Shirley Bassey perform over the years.
He was adamant that there is no bad blood between him and Brian, and that he’d been communicating with him following his emergency back surgery and subsequent “mental health concerns”, which forced him to postpone his ‘Pet Sounds And Greatest Hits’ tour in 2019.
They last performed with Brian on their 50th anniversary tour in 2012.