Tom Petty Boxed Set of Unreleased Music Coming in September
Over the course of a professional career that spanned more than 40 years, Tom Petty released a vast amount of material, including 13 albums with the Heartbreakers, three solo outings, two with Mudcrutch and dozens if not hundreds of covers, outtakes, live versions, stray B-sides, Petty songs covered by other artists, and more.
Yet there’s a lot of unreleased music inside the late musician’s vault, and four CDs of it will be coming in a boxed set called “American Treasure” scheduled for release on Sept 28, it was announced on the Petty channel on SiriusXM Tuesday. The set will include previously unreleased live and studio material, alternate versions — 60 songs in total, compiled by Petty’s daughter Adria, his wife Dana, longtime Heartbreakers Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench and studio collaborator Ryan Ulate. It dates from the beginnings of the Heartbreakers to recent years; more details will be released Wednesday morning. The set was previewed with an unreleased song dating from 1982 c alled “Keep a Little Soul.”
Petty died on Oct. 2 of last year of an accidental overdose of a variety of medications, according to a post written by his widow, Dana, and eldest daughter, Adria. According to a statement from the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner, obtained by Variety, the musician was taking several medications, including Fentanyl, oxycodone, Xanax, Restoril, and Celexa. In their statement, Petty’s family named a litany of health problems the musician faced, “including emphysema, knee problems and most significantly a fractured hip.” The hip injury worsened, the family explained, while Petty was on his final tour, which ended just a week before his death.
“On a positive note we now know for certain he went painlessly and beautifully exhausted after doing what he loved the most, for one last time, performing live with his unmatchable rock band for his loyal fans on the biggest tour of his 40 plus year career,” the family’s message said. “He was extremely proud of that achievement in the days before he passed.”
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