Jeffrey Foskett was one of those lucky few who ended up living his dream.
The San Jose native grew up fascinated with the Beach Boys, and even played in a band that covered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame act’s songs in his early 20s, and would go on to spend much of his career singing and playing those legendary Beach Boys songs in front of thousands, if not millions, of appreciative fans.
The dream came to a close last week when Foskett — who was a hugely important member of both the Beach Boys’ and Brian Wilson’s touring bands over the years — died after a lengthy battle with anaplastic thyroid cancer.
He was 67.
Foskett will be remembered by fans for his soaring falsetto, which closely resembled what Brian Wilson delivered during his primetime years in the ’60s with the Beach Boys. Those Wilson-originated vocal parts — as pretty much any fan will tell you — were the heart and soul of the Beach Boys music. Yet, even Brian Wilson recognized that the best course of action at times was to let Foskett handle those beauties in concert. The result was that generations of new fans were able to experience those songs, in a way that approached what was originally intended, in the live arena.
“(Foskett) has the hardest job I’ve ever seen a singer pull off,” David Leaf, author of the 1978 biography “The Beach Boys and the California Myth,” said to the Los Angeles Times. “Those high parts are the ones that go straight to your gut, the ones that hit you in the heart. And he sings them perfectly. It’s an important point to make that there are other singers who could hit those notes, but to do it with the right feeling is the issue.”
Foskett was born Feb. 17, 1956, and grew up in the Willow Glen area of San Jose. Little did he know it at the time, but the seeds of his future career — as well as the dream of a lifetime — would be planted when he was just 8 years old and his older brother brought home a new Beach Boys single. His life was never the same again.
“‘I Get Around’ was a huge hit, but ‘Don’t Worry Baby’ really spoke to me,” Foskett told the Los Angeles Times. “I just couldn’t get enough of their music from that point on.”
Fast forward a dozen or so years, Foskett would actually pursue his passion for the Beach Boys music — believe it or not — right to the front door of Brian Wilson’s home in Bel Air, where the inspiring young musician would meet and form a friendship with the Beach Boys legend in the mid-’70s.
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Around that time, Foskett had moved south from Santa Clara County to attend UC Santa Barbara and was working with a couple of bands in the area. One night in 1979, Foskett was fronting one group — known for covering a number of Beach Boys tunes — at a restaurant in Santa Barbara when, as the legend goes, in walks Beach Boys original member Mike Love.
Impressed with what he heard, Love invited Foskett to join his Endless Summer Beach Band and they’d tour together through the end of 1981. Soon after, Foskett was invited to join the actual Beach Boys after Carl Wilson left to pursue a solo career. Carl Wilson quickly returned to the fold, but Foskett stayed on and handled those fabled falsetto parts for years to come.
When Brian Wilson made his much-applauded return to touring in the late ’90s, he’d call upon his old pal Foskett — the same guy who had showed up uninvited on his doorstep in the ’70s — to become his musical director and help him assemble a touring band. Foskett was a critical part in the success of Wilson’s band for well over a decade, running a tight ship as musical director and handling lead vocals on such favorites as “Don’t Worry Baby” and “Wouldn’t It Be Nice.”
In 2012, Foskett would participate in the Beach Boys’ blockbuster 50th Anniversary Reunion Tour — which, among other things, marked the first time that Brian Wilson had conducted a lengthy tour with the band since 1982. Following the tour, Foskett went back to performing in Wilson’s band, before rejoining Love and the Beach Boys in 2014.
“God called one of his great ones home,” Love said of Foskett’s passing on X (formerly Twitter). “Jeff’s sense of humor, talent, charm and genuine heart of gold did not go unnoticed by anyone who crossed his path. He was called ‘The Voice’ for good reason, he could harmonize with the best, and he did! Listen to tonight’s stillness, as I am certain there is a very big heavenly party with ‘The Voice’ singing lead.”
Outside of the Beach Boys, Foskett also released a number of solo albums, including 2019’s “Voices.”
There are no details yet on any memorial services planned.
