Al Jardine will save an “empty seat” for Brian Wilson on upcoming tour
In a new interview, The Beach Boys co-founder Al Jardine has revealed heartbreaking details about his upcoming tour in light of Brian Wilson‘s passing.
Speaking to Variety, Jardine revealed that Brian Wilson’s death “was not expected”, as he was hopeful for a recovery at their last meeting in May. Wilson, who passed on June 11th, was put into a conservatorship last year due to his battle with dementia. His children announced his passing on social media, writing: “We are heartbroken to announce that our beloved father Brian Wilson has passed away. We are at a loss for words right now.”
Of their last meeting, Jardine revealed: “I saw Brian about a month ago, and he looked like he was on the mend. We were in the living room just chatting, as he was having a blood oxygen test. He had a nurse there, and she said, ‘Well, things are looking good,’ so I was not too concerned.”
Jardine and Wilson helped form The Beach Boys in 1961, starting a long and fruitful relationship that thrived for decades. Jardine left early on in the band’s tenure, but he returned in 1964 and contributed to their most treasured works, such as Pet Sounds, alongside Wilson.
Though Wilson and Jardine’s last tour together came to a grinding halt in 2022, Jardine still held on to the dream that the pair could take the stage together. He revealed, “I was looking forward to him coming to the rehearsals in LA. And I ordered a piano to be there for him.” Jardine had prepared everything in case Wilson could take the familiar place behind the keyboard. “So it’ll be an empty seat, I guess,” Jardine said.
Jardine is continuing rehearsals, now certainly void of Wilson, for the tour he will embark upon with Barian Sahanaja and other longtime members of Wilson’s band as a solo artist. Speaking of these shows, Jardine said they “will keep the spirit alive, and I think, yeah, it’ll be more meaningful, possibly.” The musicians have long been planning to throw in some material from The Beach Boys’ Love You album of the mid-1970s, the last one produced and primarily written by Wilson.
In his official tribute, Jardine expanded on his life with the musician, writing: “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.”
Wilson is survived by his two children, Carnie and Wendy, whom he shared with his first wife, Marilyn Rovell. He also adopted five children with his late second wife, Melinda Ledbetter, whom he married in 1995.
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