After months of negotiations, Wilson rejoins two other founding members, Mike Love and Al Jardine, as well as Bruce Johnston and David Marks. Together, they will release a new album and stage an international tour in celebration of the band's 50th anniversary.
The stage-wary Wilson last toured with the group in 1965, though they continued to record together through the release of their landmark album "Pet Sounds" in 1966, and sessions for the aborted, experimental "Smile" album, meant to compete with the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band."
The album was partially finished in 1967; its failure to be completed, and Love and Jardine's displeasure with the direction of the band, is widely regarded as the flash point for Wilson's descent into depression and drug use. It was officially released earlier this year -- though Wilson released his own version in 2004.
Relations between Wilson and band co-founders Love and Jardine have been contentious ever since. Wilson's two brothers, also founding members of the group, have both died: Dennis in 1983 from drowning and Carl in 1998 from cancer. Love is Wilson's cousin.
“This anniversary is special to me because I miss the boys and it will be a thrill for me to make a new record and be on stage with them again," Wilson said in a statement.
Wilson has performed Beach Boys material over the years as part of his solo sets, and Love, Jardine and Johnston have continued touring without Wilson as the Beach Boys.
The Beach Boys' 50-date tour kicks off in April with a headlining stint at Jazz Fest in New Orleans. Other dates and locations have yet to be announced.
The group has already recorded multiple songs for its new album, which is yet-untitled.
Singer Mike Love -- who has been with the band since it formed in 1961 -- said the group recently re-recorded one of its hits, "Do It Again," at Capitol Records' headquarters in Hollywood.
"Brian paid me a compliment saying, ‘How can a guy sound that great so many years later?’ " he said in a statement. "Later on, while working out some harmonies on a new song Brian had written, I got a chance to return the compliment."
Capitol/EMI plans to reissue catalog material in addition to the new album.
“It's no exaggeration to say that the Beach Boys are one of the greatest and most loved bands that the world has ever produced, and true American icons," EMI Group CEO Roger Faxon said of the group, which was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of fame in 1988.
