Al Jardine opens up about last meeting with Beach Boys bandmate Brian Wilson

Beach Boys singer Brian Wilson passed away on June 11 and his bandmate, Al Jardine, met him a month before his death.

The 82-year-old musician opened up about his final visit with Wilson, sharing that he visited the late singer on his way to Carmel, California.

“The first thing he did is he looked at me, right in my eyes. He said, ‘You started the band,’ I said, Okay, well Brian, thank you, but you had a little bit to do with it too,’” Jardine recalled in conversation with People Magazine.

Looking back, Jardine remembered that he started the band with Wilson during their days at El Camino Junior College, where he met him on the way to class one day

“I said, ‘Brian, we’ve got to start a band together.’ And it just started. It just happened right then,” he told the outlet.

“And we searched desperately for people to be in our band, but no one on campus could quite cut it. So he said, ‘You know what? My little brother Carl plays a guitar, and my older cousin has a really great baritone. Come over to my place and I’ll introduce you.’ And that’s how it started.”

Even though Wilson dropped in and out of Beach Boys, his bond with Jardine remained strong with them visiting each other while to while.