NEW YORK – It’s almost winter, but get ready for some surf and sun: The Beach Boys are reuniting.
The founding members of the classic rock group — Brian Wilson, Mike Love and Al Jardine — announced Friday they are getting back together to celebrate their 50th anniversary.
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They’re working on a new album and also plan a 50-date tour that will take them around the world.
“This anniversary is special to me because I miss the boys, and it will be a thrill for me to make a new record and be on stage with them again,” Wilson said in a statement.
The group also includes Bruce Johnston and David Marks, both of whom have been with the band for decades.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Famers gave birth to the California rock sound. Back then, the band members were Love, Jardine, Wilson and his two brothers — Carl and Dennis Wilson, who have since died.
With songs like “Good Vibrations,” “I Get Around” and “California Girls,” the quintet embodied the fantasy of West Coast beach life. Their albums, particularly “Pet Sounds,” influenced rockers of their generation and beyond.
But Wilson suffered psychological problems that caused him to withdraw from the band, and there were years of animosity between Love and Wilson, who are cousins, as well as lawsuits among members of the band.
Still, they have gotten back together over the years, including for their 40th anniversary.
Love remarked in the statement Friday that he and Wilson were getting along well, sharing compliments together in the studio.
“Music has been the unifying and harmonizing fact of life in our family since childhood,” he said. “It has been a huge blessing that we have been able to share with the world.”
Referring to two Beach Boy hits, he added: “Wouldn’t It Be Nice to Do It Again? Absolutely!”
The Beach Boys first concert is scheduled for April 27 at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.
Bieber’s help thrills kids
LAS VEGAS – Fifth-grader Jolie Leach says she “was gonna explode” with excitement when Justin Bieber performed a concert at her Las Vegas school, and vowed she would never wash her hand after he gave her a high-five.
Leach was one of hundreds who showed clear symptoms of Bieber fever after the 17-year-old teen pop sensation staged a private show Friday at low-income Whitney Elementary School. The concert was filmed for an episode of “The Ellen Degeneres Show” and came two months after Bieber promised the school’s 650 students a $100,000 donation.
The school has garnered publicity, including a September segment on Degeneres’ show, for providing needy students’ families with food, clothes and money for utility bills.
Principal Sherrie Gahn said more than 85 percent of the school’s 600-plus students receive free or reduced-price lunch and many are homeless.
Kobe Bryant and wife divorcing
ORANGE, Calif. – Kobe Bryant’s wife, who stood by her husband when he was charged with sexual assault in 2003, filed for divorce on Friday from the Los Angeles Lakers star, citing irreconcilable differences after a decade of marriage.
In the filing, Vanessa Bryant asked for joint legal and physical custody of the couple’s two daughters, Natalia, 8, and Gianna, 5. Kobe Bryant asked for the same in his response.
Vanessa Bryant also requested spousal support.
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