I can think of very few music artists I love more than Tom Petty. He is beyond dislike. Beyond criticism. He has no haters. He belongs on the same gear of cogs as Cash, Marley, Dylan, Beatles, etc. My little girl is crying right now because I told her the news. Instead of by name, she always referred to him as "The Man Who Only Sings Nice Songs". I could not describe him better myself.
It's been awhile so I am a little foggy on the exact details. But, I saw him in Atlanta in 1991. It was in October and the Braves were in the World Series for the first time in their long playoff run, and they had a game in Minnesota that night. This is before the time where everybody has cell phones and score updates an all that. Atlanta was all going Braves crazy at the time. After the opening act, I think it was a DJ from 96 Rock did the "ladies and gentlemen: TOM PETTY and the HEARTBREAKERS" thing. Crowd goes nuts, no music, Tom Petty walks up to the microphone, crowd gets a little quiet, and he leans in and says, "Nothing - nothing, bottom of the second." The crowd just goes crazy and they tear into American Girl. Later in the show, there was like a two level back set of stairs, and Petty got chased around the stage by this big tomahawk prop. Good memories.
I keep seeing different websites reporting dead, and others reporting critical condition. CBS News, Rolling Stone and USA Today all say dead. TMZ, Fox News say critical and CNN is neither. Weird.
Not sure why he would want a DNR, think about the cool drugs you could have while you are in there runnin down a dream. RIP. I really regret not taking the opportunity to see him live.
Tom Petty radio has been one of my presets ever since it started on sat radio. I can't imagine how many nights I've listened to nothing but Tom Petty albums in a CD changer and then an iPod. Did he ever play anything that wasn't a hit?
I don't think so. He didn't have any songs that I would rank among my favorite of all time, but I grew up listening to him and he is the one artist who I don't think ever recorded a song that I dislike. I mentioned this before, but I almost went to see him when he came to town earlier this year but didn't go, mainly because it was on a weeknight. I was worried that it would turn into a lifelong regret. And judging by the YouTube videos he still sounded really good. May he RIP.