Tom Petty’s Original Heartbreakers to Reunite for First Time in Decades for Americana Awards, Fronted by Chris Stapleton; Boxed Set of ’70s Rarities Coming — SkimNews
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- Mike Campbell, Benmont Tench, Stan Lynch and Ron Blair — the four surviving original Heartbreakers — will share a stage together for the first time in more than 20 years, opening Wednesday's Americana Honors & Awards show in Nashville fronted by Chris Stapleton and closing it alongside later-era members Steve Ferrone and Scott Thurston.
- The Petty estate and UMe announced the 50th-anniversary boxed set "Origins 1971-1978," due November 6 in three configurations — 5-LP, 4-CD and an "uber deluxe edition" — each bundled with Blu-ray and DVD, previewed by the previously unheard 1978 track "Parade of Loons."
- The box includes remixed and remastered editions of the band's first two albums with extended versions of 11 tracks including "American Girl" and "Breakdown," the full release of "Live from the Record Plant 1977," a five-track "Cut Out Bin" of pre-Heartbreakers Petty solo sessions featuring Leon Russell, and the band's restored 1978 BBC "Old Grey Whistle Test" performance.
- All 51 songs on the set are mixed in high-resolution stereo, Dolby Atmos and 5.1 immersive audio, with the Blu-ray carrying the immersive mixes.
- A standalone single-disc release, "No Sleep Til L.A.", documents the pre-Heartbreakers era with 12 tracks (seven previously unreleased) tracing Petty's evolution from Mudcrutch to the Heartbreakers, available as LP, CD and a limited Zoetrope vinyl.
- A music video for "Parade of Loons," directed by Peter Sluszka and starring Iain Armitage ("Young Sheldon"), was released Wednesday alongside the announcement.
- The Americana Awards will stream live via NPR Music's YouTube channel and the Americana Music Association's Facebook page, with audio on SiriusXM's Outlaw Country, WSM-AM and Nashville FM stations WRLT and WMOT; a Thursday morning AmericanaFest panel, "Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers: 50 Years," with the four original members will not be livestreamed.
Why it matters: Petty fans get a two-fer this week: the four surviving original Heartbreakers share a stage for the first time since Tom Petty's 2017 death while a 50th-anniversary box set delivering 51 songs in Dolby Atmos and 5.1 — plus remixed first-album tracks and a restored 1978 BBC set — drops November 6.
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