The Beach Boys scrap final 2026 show as Mike Love’s health remains a concern

Mike Love of the Beach Boys performs at t Fox & Friends All-American Summer Concert Series Fox on May 31, 2024 in New York City.
Beach Boy cofounder Mike Love has been dealing with unspecified health issues . (Image credit: John Lamparski/Getty Images)

As Mike Love’s health remains a concern, the Beach Boys have cancelled what was supposed to be their final show of 2026, adding to a growing list of scrapped dates and further clouding the band’s touring future.

The group had planned an extensive summer tour this year, but most of those dates were eventually cancelled because of an unspecified health issue affecting Love, the only original member still performing with the Beach Boys.

Two upcoming Florida shows, scheduled for November 11 and 12, have quietly been replaced by performances from John Stamos and the California Sound. The group features core members of the Beach Boys’ touring lineup, but it can't use the Beach Boys name, whose exclusive legal trademark is held by Love.

Mike Love in October 2026

Love performed from a wheelchair at the Ryman during the Beach Boys’ October 2026 show. (Image credit: YouTube)

Now, the band has also pulled the plug on its November 13 show at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Bristol, Virginia. That leaves just one date on the Beach Boys’ itinerary: a May 8, 2027, performance in Alberta, Canada. That show was itself previously cancelled before being rescheduled.

Whether it will actually happen is another question. Two performances in Cincinnati and Nashville last month were widely framed as potentially Love’s final appearances with the Beach Boys. Stamos, who has a long history with the group, made no secret of the emotions surrounding the Nashville show.

“Tonight, at the Ryman, sharing the stage with Mike, I want to be completely present,” he wrote in a social media statement. “Hear every harmony, familiar joke and cheer… I want to cherish every second without feeling those seconds slipping away. That’s what I’m giving him.”

Love, for his part, told The New York Times in an email that he was concentrating on recovering from his health issues. But he also made clear how much performing still means to him, saying that “being onstage this past weekend fed my soul and gave me an incredible lift.” He added, “I’m putting my full energy into rehab so I can get back to the music and the best fans in the world.”

Concerns about Love’s health have been building for some time. Fans had already expressed alarm over his appearance during the Beach Boys’ 2025 tour, and the extensive cancellations this year have only added to the worry.

Mike Love (L), John Stamos (C), and The Beach Boys Band Perform during the 2025 Songwriters Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony at Marriott Marquis Times Square on June 12, 2025 in New York City.

Love performs with John Stamos (center) and the Beach Boys touring band at the 2025 Songwriters Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony in New York City, June 12, 2025. (Image credit: Lawrence Busacca/Getty Images for Songwriters Hall Of Fame)

Al Jardine, another founding member who now tours with the Pet Sounds Band, was particularly troubled by what he saw when he encountered his former bandmate in October. Speaking to Rolling Stone, Jardine called Love’s condition “shocking” and said the experience had left him “really depressed”.

Jardine said Love had been “going through some health issues for quite a while”. Asked whether he thought the Beach Boys should continue performing with Love in his current condition, he didn't mince words.

“I would hope not,” he said. “That’s just not right, that I can see. Obviously, he’s a total pro. He wants to be onstage, but he just doesn’t know how not to do it. He doesn’t know what else to do, so I think he’s trapped.”

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GuitarPlayer.com editor-in-chief

Christopher Scapelliti is editor-in-chief of GuitarPlayer.com and the former editor of Guitar Player, the world’s longest-running guitar magazine, founded in 1967. In his extensive career, he has authored in-depth interviews with such guitarists as Pete Townshend, Slash, Billy Corgan, Jack White, Elvis Costello and Todd Rundgren, and audio professionals including Beatles engineers Geoff Emerick and Ken Scott. He is the co-author of Guitar Aficionado: The Collections: The Most Famous, Rare, and Valuable Guitars in the World, a founding editor of Guitar Aficionado magazine, and a former editor with Guitar World, Guitar for the Practicing Musician and Maximum Guitar. Apart from guitars, he maintains a collection of more than 30 vintage analog synthesizers.