Bad Vibrations For the Beach Boys as Mike Love Performs at Mar-a-Lago Years After Bandmates Disavowed Trump
The Beach Boys are sure to be less than harmonious after Mike Love, an original singer and member of the beachy band, performed for President-elect Donald Trump at a Mar-a-Lago event on Saturday night.
Love, who tours with his own version of the band sans Brian Wilson and Al Jardine, was spotted performing at Trump’s Florida compound on the Instagram story of one of the partygoers.
In the video shared by Oleg Kouznetsov, Trump and Melania can be seen walking poolside into the soiree while guests cheer and offer a smattering of applause. In the background, Love and crew can be heard crooning on stage.
This Beach Boys touring group, led by Love, was criticized by former bandmates for performing at various Trump-related events in 2020.
These events included a trophy-hunting event featuring Donald Trump Jr. in Reno, Nevada, and a fundraising event in Newport Beach, California, in October 2020.
In response to the trophy-hunting performance, Wilson and Jardine urged fans to boycott the band. “This organization supports trophy hunting, which Both Al and I are emphatically opposed to,” Wilson shared on Twitter (now X) at the time. Prior to the California fundraiser, they issued a statement distancing themselves.
“We have absolutely nothing to do with the Trump benefit today in Newport Beach. Zero… We didn’t even know about it and were very surprised to read about it in The Los Angeles Times,” a spokesperson for the men told Variety.
According to the publication, Love is able to use The Beach Boys’ name for touring because of a license he owns. Wilson and Jardine have toured separately under a different name.