George Strait to Tribute Tom Petty in Guest DJ Spot
The somewhat curious, but super cool obsession that the current King of Country Music George Strait has for rock legend Tom Petty continues. It has been announced that Strait will host a tribute to Tom Petty on Petty’s dedicated SiriusXM channel (Ch. 31), first airing at 8 a.m. Eastern on Monday, July 20th, and then available on demand through the SiriusXM app.
During George Strait Guest DJ, listeners will hear Strait spin the “best of everything” from the Petty catalog, reflect on seeing Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in concert, talk about the time he performed at Petty’s 2017 MusiCares Person of the Year Gala, and more. And if you can’t be right in front of your satellite radio at the time, it will be available via the app afterwards. Some of the segments have also been made available early.
Listening to Strait talk about Petty, it become patently clear how much of a fanboy he George Strait really is.
“The only time I ever met Tom is when I went out to his tribute to MusicCares,” Strait recalls. “I was invited to sing ‘You Wreck Me.’ I was as nervous as a cat. I mean, I was kind of a fish out of water I guess you’d say. But, I was excited about it, nervous because I was singing ‘You Wreck Me’ in front of Tom Petty, and the Heartbreakers were all there too. I thought it went great. Later I got to meet Tom and his wife, and that was awesome. He couldn’t have been nicer to me. That was just a very special night for me.”
As folks who follow George Strait can attest, he can hardly contain his appreciation for Tom Petty. Strait started covering Petty’s “You Wreck Me” from Petty’s 1994 record Wildflowers in 2014 during his farewell Cowboy Rides Away tour. Now “You Wreck Me” almost always makes it into the George Strait set list, as does some Petty praise.
“Now I’m not one to just pick up and travel to go see somebody,” Strait says in another of the guest DJ segments. “But I wanted to see Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers live, so I was able to finagle some tickets one time to the Fonda Theater. It’s a small venue so tickets were hard to come by. But I got lucky. So me and some friends of mine just packed up here from San Antonio, flew out to L.A., and went to the show that night. It was amazing. I’m so happy that I did that. I remember it like it was yesterday … most of it (laughing). Tom and the band were great of course. And the crowd, wow. They were lit up, so to speak.”
The SiriusXM app is available on mobile phones, tablets, and computers, as well as on connected devices including smart TVs, devices with Amazon Alexa or the Google Assistant, Apple TV, PlayStation, Roku, Sonos speakers, and more.
July 19, 2020 @ 12:06 pm
“The crowd was lit up…so to speak.”
I have been to a Tom Petty concert and I think I know what George means. 😉
I’m really looking forward to listening to this tomorrow. Huge fan of both Tom and George. Thanks for making us aware of it.
July 19, 2020 @ 12:12 pm
????
So a multi-millionaire celebrating a fellow multi-millionaire who died of opiates is the new norm? Goddamn. I’m over these people.
July 19, 2020 @ 12:19 pm
Or, one music legend celebrating another music legend, illustrating how music can bridge differences with its universal language and we’re all music fans first before our tastes break down genre lines.
July 20, 2020 @ 8:56 am
Great response, Trigger!
July 19, 2020 @ 12:38 pm
You must be a hoot at parties.
July 19, 2020 @ 2:53 pm
angry white middle-aged male
July 20, 2020 @ 9:30 am
Most angry males i see, are young men in various cities like Chicago killing each other.
You sure you are using the correct words to describe the individual? maybe a little over the top and harsh? He does sound a little petty though.
July 19, 2020 @ 6:00 pm
What’s wrong does it need to some independent artist that can only draw about 35 people for you to care?
July 21, 2020 @ 3:43 am
You sir must SuCK
July 19, 2020 @ 12:31 pm
This isn’t exactly my cup a tea, but Sirius does have a massive amount of programming, for just about everyone. However, therein also lies the problem. In the need to have a million channels, they left only a narrow bandwidth for each, and they sound like absolute shite. No need to remind myself of the hollow graininess that is modern life…I think I’ll stick to the SCM playlist when I’m cruising my dystopian hellscape byways, thank you very much.
July 19, 2020 @ 12:39 pm
Quality knows quality.
July 19, 2020 @ 12:49 pm
Yo Yo Yo
Make some noise for DJ George Strait
July 19, 2020 @ 1:27 pm
Mutual respect among artists is nothing new. Petty had some biting remarks that he made about country music, and they were true (Bad rock with a fiddle). Strait is actually reemphasizing his stand on traditional country music by admiring and recognizing Tom Petty.
July 19, 2020 @ 3:02 pm
I grew up on Petty, but it wasn’t until he got Mudcrutch back together and they released that album in 08 that I became a fanboy. When you hear the demos to his most popular songs, they are country until a producer slicked them up. He was country at the core. A great musician. And a very decent human. I miss him.
July 20, 2020 @ 1:46 am
Im glad Mr. Strait is honoring Tom Petty. I sure will be listening tomorrow. I just purchased Sirius XM as I live in Idaho so thanks for the heads up. I so miss Tom. Nice way to honor one of the great ones.
July 23, 2020 @ 5:54 am
This is cool. Nice to see respect to other artists/songwriters from a different flavor of music.
Saw Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers twice… great shows.
Always missed Strait when he came through. 🙁