{"id":73101,"date":"2026-09-18T17:47:34","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T17:47:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/18\/why-tom-pettys-heartbreakers-need-to-tour-with-chris-stapleton\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T17:47:34","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T17:47:34","slug":"why-tom-pettys-heartbreakers-need-to-tour-with-chris-stapleton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/18\/why-tom-pettys-heartbreakers-need-to-tour-with-chris-stapleton\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Tom Petty&#8217;s Heartbreakers Need to Tour With Chris Stapleton"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tMike Campbell began his acceptance speech at the 25th Annual <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-country\/2026-americana-honors-awards-winners-list-molly-tuttle-1235628341\/\">Americana Honors &amp; Awards<\/a> ceremony at Nashville\u2019s Ryman Auditorium Wednesday night with a line that landed less like a joke than a promise.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\t\u201cLifetime achievement? I\u2019m not done yet,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tMinutes earlier, the Tom Petty guitarist and career-long second-in-command led his Heartbreakers bandmates and fellow honorees\u00a0\u2014 keyboardist Benmont Tench, bassist Ron Blair, Swiss Army-knife sideman Scott Thurston, and drummers Stan Lynch and Steve Ferrone \u2014 through a three-song opening set that saw contemporary living legend <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/chris-stapleton\/\" id=\"auto-tag_chris-stapleton\" data-tag=\"chris-stapleton\">Chris Stapleton<\/a> pinch-hitting for Petty. The namesake leader of the rock band <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-news\/tom-petty-rock-icon-who-led-the-heartbreakers-dead-at-66-197469\/\">died in 2017<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tWas the reunion just a one-off? Let\u2019s hope not.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tThe Heartbreakers opened with \u201cAmerican Girl.\u201d Picking up where they left off, it was the same song the band <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-news\/watch-tom-petty-play-american-girl-at-his-final-concert-200401\/\">closed its final show<\/a> with Petty, at the Hollywood Bowl on Sept. 25, 2017. If there was any rust on the outfit from nine years of inactivity, it was knocked off the instant the song\u2019s trademark chiming riff gave way to the thwack of Lynch\u2019s snare drum, bringing the band to life. Lynch, the Heartbreakers\u2019 original drummer, split with the band in 1994 and hadn\u2019t performed with them since their 2002 Rock &amp; Roll Hall of Fame Induction.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\">\n<p>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Chris Stapleton fills in for Tom Petty w\/ the reunited Heartbreakers on \u201cAmerican Girl\u201d\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fz-aLTyq8uQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tEvery bar band in this nation knows \u2014 or at least should know \u2014 \u201cAmerican Girl.\u201d\u00a0It only has five chords, but only one band can make it sound as sweet as this. And Stapleton, for his part, sang it smoother than Tennessee whiskey and sweeter than strawberry wine. It all gelled with such intimacy and immediacy that, if the 2000-plus people packing the Ryman\u2019s pews are the only ones to ever experience it, it would be a rock &amp; roll crime. The Heartbreakers featuring Chris Stapleton need to take this show on the road.<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tThe world\u2019s greatest bar band? The world\u2019s greatest baritone? It\u2019s a no-brainer.\u00a0<\/p>\n<section class=\"brands-most-popular \/\/ editors-pick-module lrv-u-margin-tb-2 lrv-u-border-a-2 u-box-shadow-5-5 lrv-u-padding-lr-1 a-span1 u-padding-b-1@tablet u-overflow-hidden\">\n<h2 id=\"section-heading\" class=\"c-heading larva  lrv-u-text-align-center u-border-color-black a-font-theme-primary-xxs lrv-u-color-black lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase u-letter-spacing-0063 lrv-u-padding-t-050 u-padding-b-0375@tablet lrv-u-padding-b-050@mobile-max lrv-u-border-b-2\">\n<p>\t\tEditor\u2019s picks<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tStapleton is uniquely suited for the gig \u2014 he is constitutionally incapable of doing a Temu Tom Petty impression. He\u2019s his own animal, an anti-frontman. Much in the way Campbell has never made a stank face during a guitar solo, the ever-stoic Stapleton hides behind a big beard and searching eyes, and lets his big voice do the heavy lifting.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tBut even that was understated this past Wednesday night.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tStapleton is an unmatched master chef when it comes to the show-stopping soulful bellows and howls that are a hallmark of his own gigs, but here he largely kept them holstered. Of course, he rose a few thousand neck hairs and belted out the \u201cit\u2019s alright\u201d refrain during \u201cBreakdown\u201d (the second song in the set), but only enough to relieve the tension of Tench\u2019s vamp drop that tees it up.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\">\n<p>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Chris Stapleton &amp; The Heartbreakers- &quot;Breakdown&quot; LIVE at the Ryman Auditorium | Americana Honors \" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/HaM7rlHHrUI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tThe Grammy-winning country singer was fronting the band without\u00a0<em>fronting the band<\/em>, approaching \u2014 serving \u2014 the songs with the deference of a supporting player. And the Heartbreakers are perhaps the most tasteful song-servers in rock history. Stapleton\u2019s neat trick was never asking the room to forget who wasn\u2019t there. Petty\u2019s physical absence remained conspicuous, which only made his spiritual presence loom larger \u2014\u00a0in Campbell\u2019s soundtrack-to-100-million-lives guitar licks and leads, Tench\u2019s tickled keys, Lynch\u2019s pocket groove reaching deeper than the Mariana Trench, the economy of the arrangements and, obviously, the songs themselves.\u00a0<\/p>\n<section class=\"brands-most-popular \/\/ recirculation-modules trending-in-article lrv-u-margin-tb-2 lrv-u-border-a-2 u-box-shadow-5-5 lrv-u-padding-lr-1 a-span1 u-padding-b-1@tablet u-overflow-hidden\">\n<h2 id=\"section-heading\" class=\"c-heading larva  lrv-u-text-align-center u-border-color-black a-font-theme-primary-xxs lrv-u-color-black lrv-u-text-transform-uppercase u-letter-spacing-0063 lrv-u-padding-t-050 u-padding-b-0375@tablet lrv-u-padding-b-050@mobile-max lrv-u-border-b-2\">\n<p>\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tIn a moment of dead air between songs, as Lynch left the stage and Ferrone (who manned the skins through the latter half of the Heartbreakers\u2019 career) claimed it, Campbell and Stapleton could be seen sharing some words and cracking each other up. It conveyed the kind of loose, joyous, brotherly ease you seldom see on the stiff, stodgy stages of awards shows. It was raw chemistry on display.\u00a0<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\">\n<p>\n<span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Chris Stapleton &amp; The Heartbreakers - &quot;You Wreck Me&quot; LIVE at the Ryman | Americana Honors &amp; Awards\u2060\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/a8V7zzRSiSU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p class=\"paragraph larva \/\/ lrv-u-line-height-copy  lrv-a-font-body-l   \">\n\tA moment later Ferrone and Thurston settled in and the band tore into its Nineties power-pop anthem \u201cYou Wreck Me.\u201d The set-closer peaked with Campbell and Tench trading solos in an extended jam, only further whetting the crowd\u2019s collective appetite for more and closing the case for a tour.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/music\/music-features\/tom-petty-heartbreakers-should-tour-with-chris-stapleton-1235628836\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mike Campbell began his acceptance speech at the 25th Annual Americana Honors &amp; Awards ceremony at Nashville\u2019s Ryman Auditorium Wednesday night with a line&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":73102,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-73101","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pop","article","has-excerpt","has-avatar","has-author","has-date","has-comment-count","has-category-meta","has-read-more","thumbnail-"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73101"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73101\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}