America's Band - An Endless Summer

The Beach Boys continue to hold Billboard / Nielsen SoundScan's record as the top-selling American band of all-time for albums and singles, and they are also the American group with the most Billboard Top 40 chart hits ever (36).

'Fifty years ago, we started something very big,' says Brian Wilson. 'So now we're celebrating together in a very big way.'

'It's pretty miraculous that we can start out as a bunch of guys who didn't know anything about fame or money, or anything like that,' says Mike Love. 'All we knew was we liked to sing and make harmonies together. So to have it become part of American musical culture is pretty amazing.'

The amazing yet true saga of The Beach Boys is well-chronicled, and by any standard it's one of the greatest and most musical stories ever told, and a group that has brought so much joy and harmony to this whole world and becoming an international sensation.

The Beach Boys have always been at heart a musical family. For five decades, The Beach Boys - America's first pop band to reach the 50-year milestone - has recorded and performed the music that has become the world's favorite soundtrack to summer.

From humble roots, founded in Hawthorne, California in 1961, The Beach Boys were originally comprised of the three teenaged Wilson brothers: Brian, Carl and Dennis, their cousin Mike Love, and school friend Al Jardine. In 1962, neighbor David Marks joined the group for their first wave of hits with Capitol Records, leaving in late 1963. In 1965, Bruce Johnston joined the band when Brian Wilson retired from touring to focus on writing and producing for the group.

The Beach Boys signed with Capitol Records in July 1962 and released their first album, 'Surfin' Safari,' that same year. The album spent 37 weeks on the Billboard chart, launching the young group known for its shimmering vocal harmonies and relaxed California style into international stardom. The Wilson/Love collaboration resulted in many huge worldwide chart hits, and under Brian Wilson's musical leadership, the band's initial surf-rock focus was soon broadened to include many other themes, helping make The Beach Boys America's preeminent band of the 1960s.

Then, in 1966, they recorded perhaps the most acclaimed album of all-time, 'Pet Sounds.'

'Sounds Of Summer: The Very Best Of The Beach Boys' has now achieved triple-platinum sales status and 'The Smile Sessions,' released to worldwide critical acclaim, won the Grammy Award for Best Historical Album, and was heralded as 2011's #1 Reissue of the Year by Rolling Stone magazine.

Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, The Beach Boys are a beloved American institution that remains iconic around the world.

One of music's greatest stories continues. And that's only right because, as the record shows, 'Good Vibrations' really are forever. - David Wild

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