The Beach Boys Confirm 50th Anniversary 50-Date World Tour and New Album

After lots of speculation as to whether they would or wouldn't, the band have decided to tour as part of their 50th anniversary -- the Beach Boys that is, not the Rolling Stones.

And it will be the first time that Brian Wilson has toured with the band since 1966, when he stopped performing to focus on songwriting.

According to a press release posted Friday morning on the Beach Boy's official site, original members Brian Wilson, Mike Love and Al Jardine will reunite with longtime members Bruce Johnston and David Marks for a 50-date world tour -- and a new studio album. The tour will begin with a headlining show April 27 at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, with additional dates to be confirmed (plus a "surprise" appearance at the 2012 Grammys, according to Rolling Stone).

"The 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 the release.

"Music has been the unifying and harmonizing fact of life in our family since childhood," Love said. "It has been a huge blessing that we have been able to share with the world. Wouldn't It Be Nice To Do It Again? Absolutely!"

The minute-long YouTube clip below was posted Dec. 15 showing the group in the studio earlier this year. The Beach Boys have recorded "several songs" for their as-yet-untitled upcoming studio album which is being produced by Wilson, with Love as the executive producer. The record will be complemented by a string of commemorative releases, including a "career-spanning box set."


Talk of a possible reunion -- following years of lawsuits and acrimony among the surviving members (Dennis Wilson died in 1983 while Carl Wilson passed in 1998) -- resurfaced earlier in the year when Wilson said he would join the group for their 50th anniversary. However, Love quickly downplayed the notion saying there were no reunion plans confirmed. A studio session in the summer at Capitol Records fueled more speculation that something was in the works.

The Beach Boys released 'The Smile Sessions' earlier this year, a five-disc collection featuring the original recordings and several session outtakes, which made Spinner's Best Albums of 2011 list. The band -- who released their first album, 'Surfin' Safari,' in 1962 on Capitol Records -- was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.

No word yet if "honorary Beach Boy" John Stamos will be hitting the stage with legends. But here's hoping he makes a cameo.