Mike Love

About

Michael Edward Love (born March 15, 1941) is an American singer and songwriter who co-founded the Beach Boys alongside his cousins Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson and their friend Al Jardine. Characterized by his nasally baritone singing voice, he has consistently contributed to their studio albums and usually served as their frontman on stage since 1961. He is credited with co-writing 15 songs with Brian that reached the U.S. Top 40, including “Fun, Fun, Fun”, “I Get Around”, “Help Me, Rhonda”, “California Girls”, “Good Vibrations”, and “Do It Again”.
Drawing inspiration from Chuck Berry and Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, Love’s lyrics primarily reflected the youth culture of surfing, cars, and romance, which helped fashion pop culture’s perception of the “California Dream”. Love also contributed to the Beach Boys’ vocal arrangements – particularly the doo-wop element in their sound. Starting in 1968, Love was a student of Transcendental Meditation (TM) under Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and became a TM teacher in 1971. The experience influenced his lyrics to take on themes of astrology, meditation, politics and ecology. In the late 1970s, Love fronted Celebration, a short-lived band that…