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The Cowsills, a family band with six siblings and their mother, Barbara, would be the inspiration for TV's mom-led musical sitcom The Partridge Family.
During a phone interview Bob Cowsill, 65, remembered the day he learned his mom would be joining the performance.
"It was horrific," he said. "No teenage kid wants his mother in the band."
But with hits like The Rain, The Park and Other Things, Indian Lake and Hair, the family formula was magic. That was until 1972, when the band started falling apart as bubble rock gave way to country rock, disco and the harder, more metal forms of the genre.
Today, sadly, only four of the original Cowsills are alive: Bob, Paul, Susan and John, who performs with the Beach Boys.
Both parents died at relatively young ages along with three of the seven siblings. Brother Barry, 50, was lost in Hurricane Katrina and his body was found months later. Bob's twin, Richard, who was never allowed to join the band due to an ongoing conflict with his father, died of lung cancer. Bill died at 58 from a variety of health issues.
Bob says joining this tour will be very therapeutic.
"I'll get to spend more time with Susan and Paul, and I think we'll be tighter than ever before. And our other brothers will always be up there (on stage) with us."
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