Christopher Polk/WireImageThe "Good Vibrations" are over. At least for the foreseeable future.
Just days after the Beach Boys' Mike Love and Bruce Johnston issued a press release announcing the band would continue on without original members Brian Wilson, Al Jardine and David Marks following the end of the Beach Boys' 50th anniversary tour, distressed fans and even the fired cofounders themselves are lobbying for the original lineup to stay together.
Love, who owns the rights to the group's name, announced he was dumping his longtime cohorts in a statement he released, explaining, "The 50th Reunion Tour was designed to be a set tour with a beginning and an end to mark a special 50-year milestone for the band."
Separately, the 71-year-old Love told the London Telegraph today that money and protecting the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers' legacy was behind the decision.
"You've got to be careful not to get overexposed. There are promoters who are interested [in more shows by the reunited lineup], but they've said, 'Give it a rest for a year'. The Eagles found out the hard way when they went out for a second year and wound up selling tickets for $5," the rocker told the paper.
That didn't sit well with Jardine, Marks and Wilson, the latter of whom expressed surprise at his cousin's decision to replace the trio with Love's backing band, which includes his son Christian.
"I'm disappointed and can't understand why he doesn't want to tour with Al, David and me," the Beach Boys' chief songwriter and resident genius told CNN.
He's not the only one. Jardine tweeted his support of a petition launched by Charles Orlik, a longtime Beach Boys devotee, calling on Mike to "do the right thing."
"In order to preserve the validity of 'The Beach Boys' as a whole, and not as a 'money saving, stripped down version' that only contains 1 original member, and 1 member that joined in 1965, we ask you to re-instate the 3 other members to the touring group for your final years performing," he wrote in his petition, which has so far garnered more than 2,100 signatures.
Orlik tells E! News that he's been a fan all his life and doesn't understand Love's justification for breaking up the band, but he hopes he'll change his mind.
"A lot of the fans feel the way that I do and I really didn't expect too much to happen [with the petition], but then I saw Al Jardine put it on his [Twitter] page and it gained 1,000 signatures overnight," said the superfan, who owns a DJ company.
Another reunion of the founding members isn't entirely out of the question.
Last week, at a Q&A at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, Love said he could see the quintet going back into the studio again.
"I'd be interested if I could write some songs with Brian," he told the Los Angeles Times.
While disappointed by Love's announcement, Wilson did leave things on an optimistic note, telling the paper that while the latest round of shows has been "very tiring," he's "really looking forward to doing another album."
The Beach Boys' 50th anniversary tour wraps up at London's Wembley Stadium on Sept. 28.