2012
  January On the 18th, Brian receives the National Association of Music Merchants Music for
Life award at the Anaheim Convention Center.
  February At the 54th Grammy Awards on the 12th, Brian, Mike, Alan, Bruce & David reunite
onstage, the first time in over 15 years that Brian has played live with The Beach
Boys.  A 50th anniversary summer reunion tour is announced. Fifty years ago, on
the 16th, the "Surfin'" single first charted on the Billboard Hot 100, at #93.
  April The Beach Boys - Brian, Mike, Alan, Bruce & David - kick off their 50th anniversary
tour in Tuscon AZ on the 24th (for full dates and venues see here). Alan's solo album
is released in physical format on the 3rd, with the addition of three bonus tracks. On
the 10th, the band perform the national anthem at the LA Dodgers opening home
game of the season. On the 19th, The Beach Boys record a short set for Siriux XM
Radio, which is aired on May 26th. The first new Beach Boys single for almost
twenty years, "That's Why God Made The Radio", is released as a download on the 26th.
  May WalMart 'release' an exclusive Beach Boys 'ZinePak, with an 11 track CD that
includes the re-recording of "Do It Again". It charts at #86. English, Australian and
Far Eastern dates for the 50th anniversary tour are announced on the 29th.
  June That's Why God Made The Radio, the first new Beach Boys studio album for twenty
years is released on the 5th, debuting at #3 (it also pulls Sounds Of Summer back into
the charts just as it's certified triple platinum). On the 7th, "The Beach Boys: Doin' It
Again" is shown during the Front Row Center series: the 55-minute special features
songs from the new album plus current and previously unseen archive live footage. In
a Rolling Stone interview published on the 26th Mike reveals he's booking shows for
"his" Beach Boys in the fall: this is evidently news to Brian who is obviously unaware
of the now-infamous "No more shows for Wilson's" email sent on the 1st.
  July The North American leg of the 50th Anniversary tour wraps on the 15th in Nevada.
The European leg commences in Spain on the 21st, moving on to Italy, Sweden &
Norway.
  August The tour plays Denmark, three dates in Germany and a Belgian festival before moving
to Japan (16th, 17th & 19th), Singapore on the 22nd and Hong Kong on the 25th.
Three Australian dates are played on the 28th, 30th & 31st.
  September The Australian leg wraps with gigs on the 2nd & 6th, and the tour itself closes with
two London dates: Royal Albert Hall on the 27th and Wembley Arena the following
day. Earlier, two new compilations are released: a single disc set ad and expanded
2CD set entitled 50 Big Ones. The latter title charts at #30 in the UK. Just before
playing the UK shows, Mike issues a press release to clarify that any other 'Beach
Boys' shows this year will not be with Brian, Alan & David but will be the band
licensed to tour by BRI. The media decide this means he's fired the other three and a
considerable furore ensues.
  October In a letter to the LA Times on the 5th, Mike explains his announcement of late
September. Responding a few days later, Brian further muddies the waters by
maintaining he knew nothing about Mike's touring plans despite having commented
on them in a Rolling Stone article back in late June. Once again, despite having
announced he's going to to exactly what he's entitled to do, Mike is cast as the villain.
50 Big Ones enters the US chart at #116 in late October.
  December On the 5th The Smile Sessions were nominated in the 2013 Grammy Awards in the
Best Historical Album category. Along with Alan, Brian performs a short set at the
95.5 KLOS Christmas Show in Los Angeles on the 13th.
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