The Beach Boys have dropped two Epcot dates on Nov. 11 and 12, and a group billed as John Stamos and the California Sound will play them instead.
The Beach Boys have pulled out of two more shows at Epcot in Orlando, Florida, on Nov. 11 and 12, Rolling Stone reported on Wednesday, Oct. 28. A group billed as John Stamos and the California Sound will play the dates instead.
What Rolling Stone reported
According to Rolling Stone, the band has not played since a pair of shows earlier this month in Cincinnati and Nashville, where frontman Mike Love appeared frail and was largely unable to sing or stand. The details of Love's illness have not been made public.
The Epcot shows were among the group's last 2026 dates. Rolling Stone says the Nov. 13 show at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Bristol, Virginia, is still on the schedule "for now." After that, the only listed Beach Boys date is May 8, 2027, at the River Cree Resort and Casino Enoch in Alberta, Canada, and tickets are still on sale.
Who is the California Sound?
Rolling Stone describes the new act as presumably the Beach Boys touring band without Love, but says that has not been confirmed. A Beach Boys spokesperson had not answered its request for comment when the story ran.
Stamos, who has performed with the band, posted a tribute to Love on Instagram before the Nashville show. Rolling Stone quotes him writing "Mike is a fighter." Love also sent The New York Times a message last week saying he is "putting my full energy into rehab," according to Rolling Stone.
Al Jardine and the license question
Al Jardine, the other living original member, keeps touring with veterans of Brian Wilson's band, which he calls the Pet Sounds Band. Rolling Stone lists his next shows as Dec. 5 in Clearwater, Florida, and Dec. 8 in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Jardine told Rolling Stone this month that he does not know what will happen to the Beach Boys touring license once Love can no longer perform. He is open to using it himself, possibly under a name like "The Beach Boys Featuring Al Jardine and the Pet Sounds Band."
Our take
Almost all of this comes from a single report, and the band has not commented, so treat the lineup details as unconfirmed. What is clear is that Epcot has already handed two dates to a different act, and that is rarely a good sign for Bristol. If you hold tickets for Nov. 13 or for the Epcot nights, check the venue's refund policy now instead of waiting for the week of the show. The bigger question is not who stands on the marquee. It is how long one of the most famous names in American pop can keep touring, and nobody has answered that yet.
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Picture credit: Photo: Drussel1 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
