The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has had its share of awkward moments, but none as cringe as when The Beach Boys accepted their induction.
It started on the endearing end of the awkwardness spectrum when a humble and grateful Brian Wilson was thrown off balance by Mike Love’s attempt to adjust Brian’s microphone.
But events quickly moved to strange and ultimately offensive when Love took his turn at the mic.
Even all the years later, I’m not sure exactly what Love was trying to accomplish in that moment. The Beach Boys were already elevated and exalted by their peers, but Love seemed intent on stepping on them to get just a little bit taller. And as you can tell from the video above, the crowd was not having it.
When Love challenged “The Boss” to get up on stage and jam with them, Paul Schaffer had had enough. He tried playing Love off stage with a few bars of “Good Vibrations,” but Love resisted.
Eventually, though, Love yielded the microphone, and when the end-of-the-night jam session started, The Boss did indeed join Love’s band on stage.
That was the first time Bruce Springsteen (along with Little Steven) performed “Barbara Ann” in public, content to hang in the background with a tambourine.
Although indelibly associated with The Beach Boys, their 1965 recording of “Barbara Ann” was actually a cover. The song was first released by The Regents in 1961, peaking at #13 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The Beach Boys’ version did better, reaching #2 in early 1966. .
Bruce Springsteen would go on to perform it twice more when Brian Wilson came to his neck of the woods in central New Jersey, once in 2007…
…and again in the summer of 2015.
On both occasions, he braved a little more than the tambourine, but at no point did he step forward to take a lead vocal.
And honestly, I kind of get it: even though Bruce has a mean falsetto, it’s tough to imagine his gruff voice blending with Wilson’s.
But it would have been cool to hear it anyway, don’t you think?
Barbara Ann
First performed: January 20, 1988 (New York City, NY)
Last performed: July 1, 2015 (Holmdel, NJ)
© February 25, 2026
