Brian Wilson calls on fans to boycott Beach Boys over hunting convention

Good Vibrations seem to be coming to a halt between some of the original members of The Beach Boys, after former keyboardist and co-founder Brian Wilson publicly denounced the current iteration of the classic rock band.

On Monday afternoon, after it was announced that the current touring lineup of The Beach Boys would soon play a series of shows at a trophy hunting convention, Wilson, 77, tweeted that along with Al Jardine (the band’s former guitarist), he will protest the group.

Currently led by lead vocalist Mike Love, the band is set to play the Safari Club International Convention in Reno, Nev. later this week, between Feb. 5 and 8. The event will host Donald Trump Jr. as its keynote speaker.

According to Wilson, the “organization supports trophy hunting,” which he says he and Jardine, also 77, are “emphatically opposed to.”

Though he said “there’s nothing we can do personally to stop the show,” Wilson endorsed a campaign which is calling for fans to boycott The Beach Boys by not listening to their music, attending their concerts or buying their merchandise.

The Change.org petition was launched last week by Eduardo Goncalves, who is the founder of the Campaign to Ban Trophy Hunting.

There, Goncalves has called out the manager of The Beach Boys himself, Elliott Lott. He wrote:

“We, the undersigned, pledge to stop buying or downloading all Beach Boys music, going to Beach Boys concerts, and purchasing any Beach Boys merchandise until the Beach Boys withdraw from the SCI Convention and publicly state their opposition to this sick ‘sport’ of killing animals for ‘fun.’”

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“We will call on the Beach Boys’ record label, agent and publicists to disown the Beach Boys, and on members of the public to protest at forthcoming Beach Boys concerts, unless they do so,” added Goncalves.

The annual Safari Club convention has drawn protests by animal rights groups such as the Humane Society of the United States for profiting from the hunting of endangered animals and promoting unethical hunting practices.

Love, on the other hand, has said Don’t Worry Baby to his fans in an official statement provided to Pitchfork.

“We look forward to a night of great music in Reno,” he said, “and, as always, support freedom of thought and expression as a fundamental tenet of our rights as Americans.”

“Wouldn’t it be nice if all the Beach Boys stayed away from those who kill for fun?” quipped Goncalves sarcastically in the online petition.

As of this writing, it has garnered more than 125,000 signatures from across the globe.

— With files from the Associated Press

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