Tom Petty
Thomas Earl Petty (October 20, 1950 – October 2, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He was the leader of the rock bands Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Mudcrutch and a member of the late 1980s supergroup the Traveling Wilburys. He was also a successful solo artist.
Tom Petty
Thomas Earl Petty
- Charlie T. Wilbury Jr.
- Muddy Wilbury
October 20, 1950
Gainesville, Florida, U.S.
October 2, 2017 (aged 66)
Santa Monica, California, U.S.
- Musician
- singer
- songwriter
- Vocals
- guitar
- harmonica
1967–2017
Over the course of his career, Petty sold more than 80 million albums. His hit singles with the Heartbreakers include "American Girl" (1976), "Don't Do Me Like That" (1979), "Refugee" (1980), "The Waiting" (1981), "Don't Come Around Here No More" (1985) and "Learning to Fly" (1991). Petty's solo hits include "I Won't Back Down" (1989), "Free Fallin'" (1989), and "You Don't Know How It Feels" (1994).
Petty and the Heartbreakers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. Petty was honored as MusiCares Person of the Year in February 2017 for his contributions to music and for his philanthropy.[1] He also acted; he had a recurring role as the voice of Lucky Kleinschmidt in the animated comedy series King of the Hill from 2004 to the show's end in 2009.[2]
Petty died of an accidental drug overdose in 2017 at the age of 66, one week after the end of the Heartbreakers' 40th Anniversary Tour.[3][4]
Early life and education[edit]
Petty was born on October 20, 1950, in Gainesville, Florida, the first of two sons of Kitty Petty (née Avery), a local tax office worker, and Earl Petty, a traveling salesman.[5][6][7] His brother Bruce was seven years younger.[5]
Petty grew up in the Northeast Gainesville Residential District, known locally as the Duckpond. After his death, a historical marker was placed in the neighborhood and a nearby park was renamed to Tom Petty Park.[8]
Petty attended Howard Bishop Middle School, where he played Little League baseball and basketball. He then attended Gainesville High School, where he graduated in 1968.[9]
Views on artistic control[edit]
Petty was known as a staunch guardian of his artistic control and artistic freedom. In 1979, he was involved in a legal dispute when ABC Records was sold to MCA Records. He refused to be transferred to another record label without his consent. In May 1979, he filed for bankruptcy and was signed to the new MCA subsidiary Backstreet Records.[61]
In early 1981, the upcoming Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers album, which would become Hard Promises, was slated to be the next MCA release with the new list price of $9.98, following Steely Dan's Gaucho and the Olivia Newton-John/Electric Light Orchestra Xanadu soundtrack. This so-called "superstar pricing" was $1.00 more than the usual list price of $8.98.[62] Petty voiced his objections to the price hike in the press and the issue became a popular cause among music fans. Non-delivery of the album and naming it Eight Ninety-Eight were considered, but eventually MCA decided against the price increase.[63]
In 1987, Petty sued tire company B.F. Goodrich for $1 million for using a song very similar to his song "Mary's New Car" in a TV commercial. The ad agency that produced the commercial had previously sought permission to use Petty's song but was refused.[64] A judge issued a temporary restraining order prohibiting further use of the ad and the suit was later settled out of court.[65] Petty also disallowed George W. Bush from using "I Won't Back Down" for his 2000 presidential campaign.[66] His family would do the same for Donald Trump in 2020, stating "Tom Petty would never want a song of his used for a campaign of hate."[67]
Some outlets have claimed that the Red Hot Chili Peppers single "Dani California", released in May 2006, bears a close musical similarity to Petty's "Mary Jane's Last Dance".[68][69] Petty told Rolling Stone, "I seriously doubt that there is any negative intent there. And a lot of rock 'n' roll songs sound alike. Ask Chuck Berry. The Strokes took 'American Girl' for their song 'Last Nite', and I saw an interview with them where they actually admitted it. That made me laugh out loud. I was like, 'OK, good for you' ... If someone took my song note for note and stole it maliciously, then maybe [I'd sue]. But I don't believe in lawsuits much. I think there are enough frivolous lawsuits in this country without people fighting over pop songs."[70]
In January 2015, it was revealed that Petty and Jeff Lynne would receive royalties from Sam Smith's song "Stay with Me" after its writers acknowledged similarities between it and "I Won't Back Down". Petty and co-composer Lynne were each awarded 12.5% of the royalties from "Stay with Me", and their names were added to the ASCAP song credit.[71] Petty clarified that he did not believe Smith plagiarized him, saying, "All my years of songwriting have shown me these things can happen. Most times you catch it before it gets out the studio door but in this case it got by. Sam's people were very understanding of our predicament and we easily came to an agreement".[72]
Personal life[edit]
Petty overcame a difficult relationship with his father. He said his father found it difficult to accept that Petty was "a mild-mannered kid who was interested in the arts" and subjected him to verbal and physical abuse on a regular basis. Petty described his father as a "wild, gambling drinker guy".[73] He was close to his mother and his brother, Bruce.[74][73][75]
Petty married Jane Benyo in 1974. They had two daughters: Adria, a director, and Annakim, an artist.[76] Benyo told mutual friend Stevie Nicks that she met Petty at "the age of seventeen". Nicks misheard Benyo's North Florida accent, inspiring the title of her song "Edge of Seventeen".[77] Petty and Benyo divorced in 1996.
On May 17, 1987, an arsonist set fire to Petty's house in Encino, California. Firefighters were able to salvage the basement recording studio and the original tapes stored there, as well as his Gibson Dove acoustic guitar. His signature gray top hat, was destroyed. The perpetrator was never caught.[78][79]
Petty struggled with heroin addiction following his divorce from Benyo.[80] He cited the emotional pain of the divorce as a cause.[81][82] He got clean after going to rehab in 1999, crediting his then-girlfriend Dana York with saving his life by helping him seek treatment.[81]
On June 3, 2001, Petty and York were married in Las Vegas.[83] They married again at their home in Malibu on June 21. Little Richard officiated the wedding, and an all-female mariachi band performed. York had a son from a previous marriage, Dylan.[76]
Petty spoke in 2014 of the benefits from his practice of Transcendental Meditation.[84]
Death[edit]
On Sunday, October 1, 2017, Petty's wife Dana York found him not breathing and in cardiac arrest at their home. He was resuscitated and taken to the UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica, California, where he was put on life support. He died at 8:40 p.m. PDT on October 2. There were premature reports of his death throughout the day.[85][86][87][88][89]
A memorial service for Petty was held at the Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, on October 16, 2017, four days before what would have been his 67th birthday.[90]
On January 19, 2018, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner announced that Petty's death was due to an "accidental overdose" stating "multisystem organ failure due to resuscitated cardiopulmonary arrest due to mixed drug toxicity",[91] [92][93] a combination of fentanyl, oxycodone, acetylfentanyl and despropionyl fentanyl (all opioids); temazepam and alprazolam (both benzodiazepines); and citalopram (an antidepressant).[94] In a statement on his website, Petty's wife and daughter said he had a number of medical problems, including emphysema, knee difficulties "and most significantly a fractured hip". He was prescribed pain medication for these problems and informed on the day of his death that his hip injury had worsened. The statement read, "[it] is our feeling that the pain was simply unbearable and was the cause for his overuse of medication.[..] We feel confident that this was, as the coroner found, an unfortunate accident."[95]
On September 23, 2018, Petty's widow Dana gave an interview to Billboard saying that Petty put off hip surgery his doctors had recommended for some time. "He'd had it in mind it was his last tour and he owed it to his long-time crew, from decades some of them, and his fans." Dana said that Petty was in a good mood the day before his death: "He had those three shows in L.A. Never had he been so proud of himself, so happy, so looking forward to the future—and then he's gone."[96]
Equipment[edit]
Petty owned and used a number of guitars over the years. From 1976 to 1982, his main instrument was a sunburst 1964 Fender Stratocaster. He also used Rickenbacker guitars from 1979 onwards.[97] The Rickenbacker 660/12TP neck was designed by Petty and featured his signature from 1991 to 1997.[98] He also extensively played several Fender Telecasters[99][100][101] and a Guild D25 12-string acoustic.
Petty's later amplifier setup featured two Fender Vibro-King 60-watt combos.[102]
