John Stamos rocking with The Beach Boys goes far beyond a couple Full House episodes
In Full House, Jesse Katsopolis is a rockstar hopeful who has always dreamed of making it big. His dream came true in a season two episode when he gets to hop on stage with The Beach Boys.
While it might have been a life-changing experience for Jesse Katsopolis, it would become commonplace for real-life fan John Stamos. Stamos has, somewhat quietly, been playing with The Beach Boys off and on for over three decades.
It started after he turned heads in the daytime classic General Hospital beginning in 1982.
The young actor at the time was already making a name for himself and it was evident in the crowds that generally followed him around.
Today, Stamos is known for his roles in General Hospital, Full House and plenty of other stops across television, but he also has a reputation for his charming personality and good looks. That persona literally presented Stamos with an opportunity he never thought he would have, while backstage at a Beach Boys concert in the early Eighties.
"I went to a concert, a friend of mine was playing guitar, I was on General Hospital at the time," Stamos said on The Kelly Clarkson Show in 2021. "The show was over, they were still going to do the encore and I went backstage and all these cheerleaders chased me in there... and they're screaming. Mike Love turns to my friend and says 'hey who is that?'"
This apparently wasn't the only place girls would chase Stamos around. Love asked if this was a common occurence and when he found out it was, Love had only four words: "Get him on stage."
Stamos went up and helped perform the hit "Barbara Ann." Little did he know it was just the beginning of a decades-long relationship with his favorite band.
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He told The Howard Stern Show in 2021 that his percussion background helped his cause.
"I played drums since I was a kid, and The Beach Boys were my idols. I was around and I would play on the encore. Dennis [Wilson] had died, their original drummer and they always used two drummers so I was like, kind of double-drumming for a while and I just kept on."
As a result, Stamos, who was in his second season with Full House, appeared in the music video of The Beach Boys song "Kokomo," released in 1988.
The same year, the band appears in a popular episode of Full House, properly titled "Beach Boy Bingo." By episode's end, the Tanners, along with Joey and Jesse hop on stage to sing "Barbara Ann." The Beach Boys appeared in the 1992 two-part episode "Video Captain" where Jesse and the Rippers, Stamos' band in the show, create a music video cover to the song "Forever."
Stamos has occasionally played with The Beach Boys for over 37 years according to his Instagram account, where he frequently posts images of him and the group. The actor-band combo performed together on PBS' "A Capitol Fourth special in 2017 and 2018, and CNN's Fourth In America Special in 2021," according to American Songwriter.
His most recent performance with the band was an August, 2022 concert at The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, where he gave a tribute to his former Full House co-star, Bob Saget, who passed away in January.
With so much success in his career, the life of a rockstar, just like the one Jesse Katsopolis always wanted, is a dream Stamos made come true.
"What a treat in life, I just love it, it just makes so many people happy and me happy."
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