Switchfoot Celebrates 20 Years Of ‘The Beautiful Letdown’ With New LP & Tour

Master April 25, 2023 3 min read 0

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Today, Grammy Award-winning rock band Switchfoot announces a new LP The Beautiful Letdown (Our Version) out May 5th in celebration of their triple platinum album’s 20th anniversary. The new record features re-recordings of chart-topping hits like “Meant To Live” (160M streams) & “Dare You To Move” (235M streams) and more.

Alongside the album, Switchfoot also announces a massive 30+ date tour of North America, which is set to kick off at the tail end of Summer. This tour sees them playing major markets like Chicago, Boston, Orlando, Detroit, Seattle, and more and marks the first time the band will play The Beautiful Letdown from front to back in its entirety.

Local presales are on Thursday, April 27th from 10 am – 10 pm local time. Public on sale is on Friday, April 28th at 12 pm local time. For tickets and more information, visit www.switchfoot.com/tour.

The underdog success story of the LP exemplifies Switchfoot’s iconoclast, grassroots approach, defying the odds of major labels and mainstream media. Produced by now legendary industry giant John Fields (Brandie Carlile, Jimmy Eat World, Ben Rector).

 The Beautiful Letdown was a ground-breaking achievement for the Southern California-based rock outfit – selling over 3M copies and garnering over 550M global streams.

When the band began the recording process in 2003, they had signed with a record label to release the collection of songs, preparing them for the biggest stages and audiences they’d ever known.

But when their dream took a turn, and the record label dropped them, the rejection brought on fears and doubts like never before.

“Do we believe in these tunes? Are these songs still worthwhile? Ultimately, we came to the conclusion that the record label’s opinion didn’t matter. We believed in these songs. And no record company logo or opinion could take that away.

We decided to do what we had always done: singing in spite of whatever opposition we might face, paving our own road, and finding a way forward,” lead singer and guitarist Jon Foreman Reminisces.

The band released the record on an indie label where it garnered critical acclaim and immense industry support. From hearing their songs on the radio all over the world to debuting videos with MTV and Late Night TV – 

The Beautiful Letdown put Switchfoot on the map and solidified them as one of the most iconic 2000s alternative bands. Drummer Chad Butler recalls, “Looking back, I realize the album was aptly titled – The Beautiful Letdown embraced a human story equally full of highs and lows.” 

Celebrating the 20th anniversary of The Beautiful Letdown, the band realizes just how important that rollercoaster was. “The journey of The Beautiful Letdown reminded us why we started playing music in the first place. It united us and gave us a deep appreciation for each other and the people that showed up to sing with us.”