Some of you immediately started to cry. Others started to sing and gradually built to tears with every lyric. After being emotionally compromised by the deadly mass shooting in Las Vegas on October 1, 2017, the passing of music legend Tom Petty the very next day was too much.
Petty, 66 years old, suffered a cardiac arrest in his Malibu home on October 2, 2017. He was taken to UCLA Medical Center but never recovered.
His longtime manager Tony Dimitriades confirmed his death that night after an earlier run of misinformed news announcements.
Lead singer of iconic, multiplatinum-selling band The Heartbreakers, Petty and his mates were inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. He was also a hugely successful solo artist, responsible for such timeless hits as “I Won’t Back Down”, “Free Fallin”, and “You Don’t Know How It Feels”.
Our older music lovers, the ones of the MTV generation and the years before, know Petty as a creative visionary. His songs were infectious, and his videos were weird. If someone shouted “Hey” in a room full of Petty fans, they’d all respond, “don’t come around here no more”.
Younger audiences, the TRL generation through the iHeart Radio and Spotify generation, know Petty as the guitar-wielding hipster who could rock a packed stadium. He kept audiences invested song after song after song.
Concerts tickets for Petty and the Heartbreakers remained a hot commodity throughout his career and, sadly, right up until his death.
Tom Petty was loved. Our condolences to his family, friends, and fans.
Rest In Peace, Thomas Earl Petty (October 20, 1950 – October 2, 2017) |THIS.
[By M.J. Walker]
