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A concert for a good cause provided the setting for a couple of surprising reunions this past weekend.
At an autism benefit called “Light Up The Blues” in Los Angeles Saturday night, Neil Young announced that he wanted to bring his “brother” up onstage. Stephen Stills joined in for three songs, and then the former band mates were later joined by Patti Smith for “People Have the Power.”
At the same show, the Heartbreakers all appeared onstage together for the first time since Tom Petty‘s death back in October. They were joined by Stills, who took over Petty’s vocals on “I Won’t Back Down,” and also by Patti Smith on “Because the Night.”
It’s unclear whether either of these events are harbingers of larger-scale reunions. The Heartbreakers haven’t issued any statements regarding their future without Tom Petty, and guitarist Mike Campbell recently signed on to join Fleetwood Mac on the road, following the band’s firing of Lindsey Buckingham.
As for Neil Young and Stephen Stills, their two former CSNY band mates, David Crosby and Graham Nash, have both hinted that the current extreme political climate might provide an excellent common ground in which to reunite, but the Huffington Post says Neil Young told them last month, “I don’t plan things like that. They either happen or they don’t. I don’t have a plan.”
The Autism Speaks benefit also featured performances by Sheryl Crow, Beck, Burt Bacharach, and Judy Collins.
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