Add George Strait to the List of Petty Fans
Joining forces with Chris Stapleton most nights, he covers a key song in tribute
A few months ago, right after his Super Bowl performance, I wrote about the connection between Chris Stapleton and Tom Petty.
Stapleton is an avowed Petty fan, and seems to have helped expand the circle. Touring with George Strait, Stapleton joins him on a cover of “You Wreck Me” most nights — and Strait now calls himself “a huge Tom Petty fan.”
As in the case with Stapleton, Strait’s elevated awareness of Petty came when Petty criticized country music. In this case, Strait took note when Petty called country music as “bad rock with a fiddle” in a 2013 interview. Strait at first was offended, but then listened to Petty’s music, and gained a respect for the artist making the critique. In fact, he went so far as to perform in 2017 as part of the MusiCares Person of the Year gala in Petty’s honor.
Here’s a performance of “You Wreck Me” by Strait, featuring Stapleton, from about a year ago. He performed it just last month in Ohio, and it has become a standard feature of his encores.
We love the song, and hope you will come hear us play it sometime soon!
WooHoo!!