Stevie Nicks, The Killers, Kurt Vile & more celebrating Tom Petty’s birthday with a virtual fest

Gaia Writer

The late Tom Petty would have been celebrating his 70th birthday today, October 20th. To commemorate the occasion, his estate is working with musicians and fans to pay tribute to him with a virtual festival. Streaming on Friday, October 23, the "Tom Petty Birthday Bash" will kick off at 4:30 PM ET on SiriusXM's Tom Petty Radio with an audio broadcast hosted by rock journalist David Fricke, Tom Petty Radio producer Mark Felsot, and Birthday Bash organizers Jason and Sarah Hedges. It'll feature performances and appearances from Jason Isbell, The Killers, Kurt Vile, The Raconteurs, Dawes, Emma Swift, Resynator feat Grace Potter, Starcrawler with Mike Campbell, Low Cut Connie, and more.

Later on Friday, at 7 PM ET, the second part of the event will stream on tompetty.com and Amazon Music's Twitch. It will feature performances from Heartbreakers Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench, Adam Sandler, Amos Lee, Beck, Brandi Carlile, Chris Stapleton, Dhani Harrison & Graham Coxon, The Flaming Lips, Foo Fighters, Gary Clark Jr., Jackson Browne, Lucinda Williams, Lukas Nelson, Margo Price, Norah Jones, Patterson Hood of Drive-By Truckers, Spoon, Stephen Stills with Christopher Stills, Susanna Hoffs and more, and special guest appearances from Eddie Vedder, Jakob Dylan, Jimmy Iovine, Kiefer Sutherland, Lenny Kravitz, Post Malone, Rick Rubin, Stephen Perkins of Jane's Addiction, and Stevie Nicks. See the full lineup below.

Previously unseen performance footage of Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers will also premiere on the 7 PM stream, and they'll be raising awareness and donations for the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA), Arts in Medicine, Digitunity, and MusiCares.

Meanwhile, Tom's 1994 solo album Wildflowers was just re-released as Wildflowers & All The Rest, a double-album spanning 70 tracks including a live album, home recordings, the entire 25-song version of the record Tom intended to release back in '94, and All The Rest, a 10-song disc of "lost" material. From our review:

The ten newly-unearthed songs have that same warm, folky vibe as the 15 Wildflowers songs that have been out for over 25 years, and they instantly feel as classic as those songs already are. The "lost" songs are all at least as good as the songs that did come out in 1994 -- some are even better. These are not "outtakes," they're album-quality songs that the world should've heard a quarter century ago.

TOM PETTY’S 70TH BIRTHDAY BASH—OCTOBER 23, 2020

4:30-7:00p.m. ET— SiriusXM’s Tom Petty Radio

Hosted by David Fricke & Mark Felsot and Jason & Sarah Hedges
Caamp, Dawes, Grouplove, Jason Isbell, The Killers, Kurt Vile, The Raconteurs, Resynator feat. Grace Potter, Starcrawler with Mike Campbell, Larkin Poe with Steve Ferrone, Low Cut Connie, Andrew Leahey and The Homestead, Arts In Medicine Hospital Band, Edan Archer, Emma Swift, Hannah Harber, Hannah Wicklund, Have Gun Will Travel, Hedges, Jake Thistle, Jeff Slate’s Weekend Wilburys, Johnathan Coody, Michigan Rattlers, Miss Tess, Mr. Cool, Sunkat, The High Divers, Tristen Orphans

7:00-9:30p.m. ET—Amazon Music’s Twitch Channel, TomPetty.com, and audio simulcast on SiriusXM’s Tom Petty Radio

Performances by: Mike Campbell & Benmont Tench, Adam Sandler, Amos Lee, Beck, Brandi Carlile, Chris Stapleton, Dave Stewart, Dhani Harrison & Graham Coxon, Emily King, The Flaming Lips, Foo Fighters, Gary Clark Jr., Jackson Browne, Lady Blackbird, Lucinda Williams, Lukas Nelson, Margo Price, Mosshart-Sexton, Norah Jones, Patterson Hood of Drive-By Truckers, Roger McGuinn, Sabina Sciubba, Spoon, Stephen Stills with Christopher Stills, Susanna Hoffs and Wesley Schultz of The Lumineers. Special Guests: Eddie Vedder, Jakob Dylan, Jimmy Iovine, Kiefer Sutherland, Lenny Kravitz, Marty Stuart, Olivia Harrison, Post Malone, Rick Rubin, Stephen Perkins of Jane’s Addiction, and very special guest Stevie Nicks