John Stamos is opening up about friend and Beach Boys founding member Mike Love’s health.
“I’m boarding a plane to Nashville to play with the Beach Boys at the Ryman Auditorium, struggling to put my feelings into words,” Stamos, 63, began via Instagram on Sunday, October 11. “My beloved friend, father figure, musical hero and mentor, Mike Love, is facing serious health challenges. We hope he’ll be doing what he loves for years to come, but we don’t know what the future holds. We have tonight.”
Stamos continued, “Mike is a fighter. Despite doctors, family and friends urging him to focus on his health, he insists on being on stage. He says he needs his band, the audience, his friends and drummer surrounding him to lift him up.”
The message, which also featured photos of Stamos and Love, 85, through the years, was posted ahead of their joint performance in Tennessee on Sunday. The show is part of the Beach Boys’ tour celebrating the 60th anniversary of Pet Sounds, with Stamos appearing at some shows as a special guest. (Footage from a concert recently went viral, showing Love sitting in a chair on stage as Stamos and the band played around him.)
“I’ve played with Mike for 41 years. I never imagined how deeply it would affect me to see someone larger than life face something so human and fragile,” Stamos wrote. “The Mike Love we see tonight may not be exactly the Mike we’ve always known. But he’s still every bit the Mike we love.”
Stamos continued, “His lyrics, optimism, unforgettable hooks and more than 7,000 concerts have brought joy to generations. What he’s given me personally is immeasurable. Forty-one years of stages, airplanes, hotel rooms, laughter and moments nobody else saw.”
Stamos noted that he has a personal connection to Love, who officiated his wedding to wife Caitlin McHugh in 2018. The pair welcomed son Billy that same year.
“He’s shared experiences with my family, and now my son,” Stamos wrote. “Mike didn’t just give me a place in his band. He gave me a place in his life.”
Stamos reflected on Love teaching him “how to entertain, hold a stage, connect with an audience and make people feel something,” which are lessons he carries with himself “everywhere.” The Full House alum said Love has made him a “better musician, entertainer and man.”
“This life with Mike and the Beach Boys has become part of my identity. I’ve felt entrusted with being a steward of this extraordinary music, carrying it to new generations,” Stamos wrote. “Tonight, at the Ryman, sharing the stage with Mike, I want to be completely present. Hear every harmony, familiar joke and cheer. Feel that first chord hit and watch age, illness and time disappear. Just a bunch of guys making music together. Maybe the hardest part of loving someone is becoming so accustomed to the miracle of having them there that you forget it’s a miracle at all.”
Stamos concluded, “Tonight, I won’t forget. I want to cherish every second without feeling those seconds slipping away. That’s what I’m giving him. We don’t know what tomorrow brings. But we have tonight.”
