Today, beloved Grammy Award-winning rock band Switchfoot have teamed up with fellow Grammy award-winning singer/songwriter/producer Jon Bellion (Eminem, Rihanna, Jonas Brothers) to radically re-imagine one of their biggest hits, 2003’s “Meant to Live.”
Originally appearing on Switchfoot’s 3x platinum album, The Beautiful Letdown, this new version of “Meant to Live” swaps out the heavy guitar riffs of the original for a lush string arrangement by legendary arranger John Metcalfe (Coldplay, Blur, Peter Gabriel) and a passionate performance by Bellion. This new version was recorded at London’s legendary Abbey Studios.
Speaking about the track, Bellion noted: “I think ‘Meant to Live’ is one of the best written songs of all time. That song is actually one of the reasons I got into music. I remember the energy on the song that was so healing, honest, and I felt like a human being. That song opened a lot of insight for me on how to write records where you can connect with me. I thought, ‘if it doesn’t connect with me like Switchfoot Meant to Live connected with me when I was a kid then I shouldn’t be writing it. If you would have told me 15 years ago that I would be covering this song cause the band would be approaching me for one of my favorite songs of all time to reimagine the song in a way I saw fit I’d be completely honored.”
Switchfoot’s Jon Foreman recalls how the track came into being: “Years ago Jon Bellion mentioned Switchfoot in a tweet as an inspiration for a song he was working on. I hit Jon back to tell him that I’ve loved his stuff for years. Since then we’ve stayed in touch, texting from time to time. Fast forward to this year-when we started re-recording ‘The Beautiful Letdown’; we had a lot of friends reach out with stories about how that album had impacted their lives – one of those friends was Jon Bellion… hearing Abbey Road strings playing a John Metcalfe arrangement with Jon Bellion’s voice singing those lyrics felt like a graduation (maybe the graduation that this college dropout never got!). It’s like I’m hearing the song for the first time, and I wonder who wrote it, and where music even comes from—Bellion and I were talking about it the other day, how this version of the song truly illuminates the lyrics in a new way.”
2023 marks the 20 year anniversary of ‘The Beautiful Letdown,’ and in celebration, Switchfoot released a re-imagined version of the album earlier this year that features newly recorded versions of classic hits like “Meant To Live” (160M streams), “Dare You To Move” (235M streams) and more.
Switchfoot will kick off their massive 30+ date tour of North America at the tail end of Summer. The run of shows sees the band performing The Beautiful Letdown from front to back in its entirety in major markets like Chicago, Boston, Orlando, Detroit, Seattle, Los Angeles and more. Numerous shows on the tour are already sold out or have very few tickets remaining such as The Wiltern in Los Angeles, CA, House of Blues in Chicago, IL, and The Bluestone in Columbus, OH. Full itinerary below.
Tour dates:
Friday, August 25, 2023 – Sugar Hill, GA – The Bowl – SOLD OUT
Saturday, August 26, 2023 – Birmingham, AL – Avondale Brewing Company
Sunday, August 27, 2023 – Hattiesburg, MS – Saenger Theater
Wednesday, August 30, 2023- Memphis, TN- Minglewood Hall
Thursday, August 31, 2023- Huntsville, AL- Mars Music Hall
Thursday, September 14, 2023- St Louis, MO- The Pageant
Friday, September 15, 2023- Fayetteville, AR- JJ’s Live
Saturday, September 16, 2023- Tulsa, OK- Hard Rock Hotel and Casino
Sunday, September 17, 2023- Huston, TX- The Heights Theatre
Wednesday, September 20, 2023 – Austin, TX – Paramount Theatre
Thursday, September 21, 2023 – Dallas, TX – AT&T PAC – Strauss Square
Friday, September 22, 2023 – Houston, TX – The Heights Theater – SOLD OUT
Saturday, September 23, 2023 – San Antonio, TX – The Espee
Sunday, September 24, 2023 – Oklahoma City, OK – Tower Theatre
Wednesday, September 27, 2023 – Chicago, IL – House Of Blues
Thursday, September 28, 2023 – Nashville, TN – The Ryman – SOLD OUT
Friday, September 29, 2023 – Columbus, OH – The Bluestone
Saturday, September 30, 2023- Greeneville, TN- Niswonger Performing Arts Center
Sunday, October 1, 2023 – Chattanooga, TN – The Signal
Tuesday, October 3, 2023 – Charleston, SC – Charleston Music Hall
Friday, October 6, 2023 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL – The Parker Playhouse
Saturday, October 7, 2023 – St. Petersburg, FL – Jannus Live
Sunday, October 8, 2023 – Orlando, FL – House of Blues
Monday, October 9 – Charlotte, NC – Knight Theatre
Tuesday, October 10, 2023 – Durham, NC – Fletcher Hall
Thursday, October 12, 2023 – Wilmington, NC – Greenfield Lake Amphitheater
Friday, October 13, 2023 – Richmond, VA – The National
Saturday, October 14, 2023 – Norfolk, VA – The NorVa
Sunday, October 15, 2023 – Washington, DC – Warner Theatre
Wednesday, October 18, 2023 – Montclair, NJ – Wellmont
Thursday, October 19, 2023 – Huntington, NY – The Paramount
Friday, October 20, 2023 – Atlantic City, NJ – The Concert Venue at Harrah’s Resort
Saturday, October 21, 2023 – Mashantucket, CT – Foxwood Resort & Casino
Sunday, October 22, 2023 – Boston, MA – Wilbur Theatre
Wednesday, October 25, 2023 – Grand Rapids, MI – 20 Monroe
Thursday, October 26, 2023 – Detroit, MI – The Fillmore
Friday, October 27, 2023 – Clear Lake, IA – Surf Ballroom
Saturday, October 28, 2023 – Omaha, NE – Steelhouse
Thursday, November 2, 2023 – Denver, CO – Ogden
Saturday, November 4, 2023 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Complex
Tuesday, November 7, 2023 – Seattle, WA – The Moore Theatre
Wednesday, November 8, 2023 – Portland, OR – Roseland
Friday, November 10, 2023 – Sacramento, CA – Ace of Spades – SOLD OUT
Saturday, November 11th, 2023 – Bakersfield, CA – Fox Theater
Sunday, November 12, 2023 – Los Angeles, CA – The Wiltern
