The Beach Boys are truly iconic. Their mellow, easily-identifiable sound defined the era, alongside their hard-hitting rock counterparts. Launched in 1961, who can forget the band's classic, sun-drenched songs like "Good Vibrations," "Wouldn't It Be Nice," "Kokomo," and "Surfin' U.S.A.?" Over the decades, the Beach Boys have been a seamless unit. Replacing one of them, you would think, would be a huge and daunting task. However, they turned to social media and readily found their newest member.
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Bruce Johnston Dropped Out of the Band
The Beach Boys' longtime bassist and keyboardist, Bruce Johnston, said recently that he was making his exit from the band after some 60 years, per Louder. He shared, "It's time for part three of my lengthy musical career!. I can write songs forever and wait until you hear what's coming! As my major talent beyond singing is songwriting, now is the time to get serious again."
So it seems like Johnston's career has taken a brand new turn. Meanwhile, though, he had to be replaced. Their newbie is Chris Cron. His musical resume includes having been the frontman for Melee. They went their separate ways fourteen years ago with a trio of LPs under their belt.
Cron Created Impressive Tribute Videos About the Beach Boys
When the Beach Boys' musical director, Brian Eichenberger, reached out to Chris Cron with an offer to join the band, he was flabbergasted, per Rolling Stone. He should not have been. Cron has produced ample evidence that he perfectly understands the Beach Boys' vibe and is masterful at recreating it. Cron even came up with a viral video three years ago called How To Sound Like the Beach Boys. His friendship with Full House actor John Stamos helped, too. The actor has sung with the band from time to time for years.
He is part of a Beach Boys tribute band called Pet Sounds Live. In fact, Cron also crafted videos "where he re-creates vintage Beach Boys harmonies with stunning precision, mimicking the unique vocal styles of every single member," per the outlet.
He Still Can't Wrap His Head Around His Good Fortune
Cron seems to still be acclimating himself to the news that he is now a Beach Boy. He stood in for one of their members last year, but that was a quick stint, per the outlet. This time, however, is different.
He remarked, "People say, 'You're in the Beach Boys!' And I'm like, 'Well, I'm a touring member of the current thing right now, so I guess so.' But it's just weird to be like ... I don't know what to think. It's just fun. This was never on my bingo card."
But now, it's Chris Cron's exciting new reality. "My wife got big-eyed when I told her about the Beach Boys offer. She said, 'You have to do this. You can't say no to this opportunity.'"
