In Memoriam|

Tom Petty (from his website: www.TomPetty.com)

Thomas Earl Petty (October 20, 1950 – October 2, 2017) was an American rock musician, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer best known as the lead singer of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. He was also a member and co-founder of the late 1980s supergroup the Traveling Wilburys, and his early band Mudcrutch.

Petty recorded a number of hit singles with the Heartbreakers and as a solo artist. In his career, Petty sold more than 80 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. In 2002, Petty was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
> > > > > > > > > >
Petty was born October 20, 1950, in Gainesville, Florida, the first of two sons of Kitty (Avery) and Earl Petty. His interest in rock and roll music began at age ten when he met Elvis Presley. In the summer of 1961, his uncle was working on the set of Presley’s film Follow That Dream in nearby Ocala, and invited Petty to come down and watch the shoot. He instantly became an Elvis Presley fan, and when he returned that Saturday, he was greeted by his friend Keith Harben, and soon traded his Wham-O slingshot for a collection of Elvis 45s.

In a 2006 interview, Petty said that he knew he wanted to be in a band the moment he saw the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show. “The minute I saw the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show — and it’s true of thousands of guys — there was the way out. There was the way to do it. You get your friends and you’re a self-contained unit. And you make the music. And it looked like so much fun. It was something I identified with. I had never been hugely into sports. … I had been a big fan of Elvis. But I really saw in the Beatles that here’s something I could do. I knew I could do it. It wasn’t long before there were groups springing up in garages all over the place.” He dropped out of high school at age 17 to play bass with his newly formed band.

In an interview with the CBC in 2014, Petty stated that the Rolling Stones were “my punk music”. Petty credited the group with inspiring him by demonstrating that he and musicians like him could make it in rock and roll.

One of his first guitar teachers was Don Felder, a fellow Gainesville resident, who would later join the Eagles. As a young man, Petty worked briefly on the grounds crew for the University of Florida, but never attended as a student. An Ogeechee lime tree that he planted while employed at the university is now called the Tom Petty tree (Petty stated that he did not recall planting any trees). He also worked briefly as a gravedigger.

Petty also overcame a difficult relationship with his father, who found it hard to accept that his son was “a mild-mannered kid who was interested in the arts” and subjected him to verbal and physical abuse on a regular basis. Petty was extremely close to his mother, and remained close to his brother, Bruce.
> > > > > > > > >
Petty married Jane Benyo in 1974, and they divorced in 1996. Benyo disclosed to Stevie Nicks that she had met Petty at “the age of seventeen.” Nicks misheard Benyo, leading to Nicks’ song “Edge of Seventeen”. Petty and Benyo had two daughters; Adria is a director, and AnnaKim Violette an artist. Petty married Dana York on June 3, 2001, and had a stepson, Dylan, from York’s earlier marriage.

In May 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, however, was destroyed. Petty later rebuilt the house with fire-resistant materials.

Petty spoke in 2014 of the benefits from his practice of Transcendental Meditation.
> > > > > > > > > >
Death:
Petty was found unconscious at his home, not breathing and in full cardiac arrest, early in the morning of Monday, October 2, 2017. He was taken to the UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica, California, where he died at 8:40 pm PDT that evening.

After reports of Petty’s hospitalization, premature reports of his death spread quickly and widely, and without official denial or confirmation, continued throughout the day until the band’s management issued official confirmation about two hours after Petty’s actual death Monday evening. While the official announcement said Petty collapsed early Monday morning, original reports claimed the incident happened Sunday night.

Read the full, extensive biography here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Petty

http://www.tompetty.com/

From Tom’s website: On behalf of the Tom Petty family, we are devastated to announce the untimely death of our father, husband, brother, leader and friend Tom Petty.

He suffered cardiac arrest at his home in Malibu in the early hours of this morning and was taken to UCLA Medical Center but could not be revived.

He died peacefully at 8:40 PM PST surrounded by family, his bandmates, and friends.

– Tony Dimitriades, longtime manager of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, on behalf of the family

Leave a Reply

Close Search Window