Brian Wilson, a co-founder of the Beach Boys, is urging his fans to sign a petition protesting the group’s performance this week at a national hunting convention that will feature a keynote speech by Donald Trump Jr.
The touring group — led by another Beach Boys co-founder, Mike Love, who holds the license to the Beach Boys name — was scheduled to perform Wednesday at the Safari Club International Convention in Reno, Nevada, according to a spokesman for the convention.
On Twitter, Wilson said he learned that the Beach Boys touring group would headline the convention and that “this organization supports trophy hunting,” which he is “emphatically opposed to.”
“There’s nothing we can do personally to stop the show, so please join us in signing the petition,” Wilson added. He linked to a Change.org petition called “Tell the Beach Boys to Say No to Trophy Hunting!”
Safari Club International is a nonprofit group that described itself on its website as protecting the freedom to hunt and promoting wildlife conservation. The annual convention, which begins Wednesday, will feature exhibitors showcasing the latest guns and hunting equipment, seminars and auctions for hunting trips.
In a statement Tuesday, the group said the organization “is and always will be equally dedicated to both the conservation of wildlife and the right to free speech guaranteed by the First Amendment. As such, we support the right of anti-hunting petitioners to protest our convention, but we hope they understand how much more they could achieve by working with us instead of against us.”
What the petition says
The petition, created by a user in England, said, "Wouldn't it be nice if all the Beach Boys, stayed away from those who kill for fun?"
It also called on fans to boycott the band’s music and concerts until the Beach Boys withdraw from the convention and “publicly state their opposition to this ‘sick’ sport of killing animals for ‘fun.’ ”
The petition had more than 90,000 signatures as of Tuesday afternoon.
The Humane Society of the United States recently criticized the conference, describing the event as a gathering of people who “celebrate the senseless killing, buying and selling of dead animals for bragging rights.”
Donald Trump Jr. to appear
The petition mentions that Donald Trump Jr. is a speaker at the conference and includes a photo of Trump with his brother Eric Trump, both of whom are avid hunters.
Donald Trump Jr. is scheduled to speak Saturday, according to Safari Club International, and is part of an auction for a hunt in Alaska for Sitka black-tailed deer and sea duck, according to the convention program.
“Don is looking forward to his speech at the Safari Club convention and is proud to add Brian Wilson to the list of liberal Hollywood elites who he has successfully triggered,” Andy Surabian, a spokesman for Trump, said Tuesday.
History of the Beach Boys
The Beach Boys were originally founded in 1961 by three teenage Wilson brothers — Brian, Carl and Dennis — their cousin Love, and a friend, Al Jardine, according to the band’s website.
In 1965, David Johnston joined the band when Wilson focused on writing and producing for the group, according to the group’s website.
The group has had a wave of memorable hits including “California Girls,” “Good Vibrations” and “Help Me Rhonda.” Wilson stopped working with the band in the 1980s. The band had another hit in 1988 with “Kokomo,” which was featured in the Tom Cruise movie “Cocktail.”
Dennis Wilson died in 1983, but after Carl Wilson died in 1998, the members ended up representing different factions of the band, with Love and Johnston in one and Jardine and Wilson in another. In 2012, the band reunited for a tour to celebrate its 50th anniversary.
What’s next
In a statement, according to Pitchfork, Love said “we look forward to a night of great music in Reno and, as always, support freedom of thought and expression as a fundamental tenet of our rights as Americans.”
Wilson and Love did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday.
— This report was compiled by ArLuther Lee for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
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