Rock Superstar Tom Petty Dies at 66
Tom Petty
LOS ANGELES (AP)  â Tom Petty  an old-fashioned rock superstar and everyman who drew upon the Byrds  the Beatles and other bands he worshipped as a boy and produced new classics such as âFree Fallin â² âRefugeeâ and âAmerican Girl â  has died.
 Petty  passed away Monday night at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles after  he  suffered cardiac arrest at  his  home in Malibu  California  spokeswoman Carla Sacks said. He was 66.
 Petty  and his longtime band the Heartbreakers had recently completed a 40th anniversary tour  one he hinted would be their last.
âIâm thinking it may be the last trip around the country â  Petty  told Rolling Stone last year. âWeâre all on the backside of our 60s. I have a granddaughter now Iâd like to see as much as I can. I donât want to spend my life on the road. This tour will take me away for four months. With a little kid  thatâs a lot of time.â
Usually backed by the Heartbreakers   Petty  broke through in the 1970s and went on to sell more than 80 million records. The Gainesville  Florida  native with the shaggy blond hair and gaunt features was loved for his melodic hard rock  nasally vocals and down-to-earth style. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame  which inducted Petty and the Heartbreakers in 2002  praised them as âdurable  resourceful  hard-working  likeable and unpretentious.â
 Petty  didnât just sing about not backing down   he  lived it. In 1979   he  was enraged when  his  record label was sold and  his  contract transferred. Stating that  he  would not be âbought and sold like a piece of meat â  he  self-financed what became âDamn the Torpedoesâ and declared bankruptcy rather than allowing  his  label  MCA  to release it.  He  eventually reached a new deal with MCA  for better terms. In the early 1980s   he  was again at war with MCA  this time over the labelâs plans to charge extra money  a dollar higher than the standard $8.98  for  his  album âHard Promises.â  He  again prevailed.
 Petty  was both a musician and obsessive fan  one who met  his  childhood heroes and lived out the fantasies of countless young rock lovers.  He  befriended Byrds leader Roger McGuinn and became close to George Harrison  who performed on âI Wonât Back Downâ and joined Petty  Bob Dylan  Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne in the impromptu super group the Traveling Wilburys.  Petty  inducted Harrison into the Rock Hall in 2004; two years earlier Dylanâs son Jakob inducted  Petty . In the 1980s  Petty and the Heartbreakers supported Bob Dylan on a nationwide tour.
He would speak of being consumed by rock music since childhood  to the point where father  whom  Petty  would later say beat him savagely  thought he was âmental.â Awed by the chiming guitars of the Byrds  the melodic genius of the Beatles and the snarling lyrics of Dylan  he was amazed to find that other kids were feeling the same way.
By his early 20s   Petty  had formed the group Mudcrutch with fellow Gainesville natives and future Heartbreakers (guitarist) Mike Campbell and (keyboardist) Benmont Tench. They soon broke up  but reunited in Los Angeles as the Heartbreakers  joined by bassist Ron Blair and drummer Stan Lynch. Their eponymous debut album came out in 1976 and they soon built a wide following  fitting easily into the New Wave sounds of the time.
The world changed more than  Petty  did over the past few decades. In 2014  around the time  he  received an ASCAP Founders Award   he  told The Associated Press that  he  thought of  himself  as âkind of a music historian.â
âIâm always interested in the older music  and Iâm still always discovering things that I didnât know about â  he  said. âTo be honest  I really probably spend more time listening to the old stuff than I do the new stuff.â
LOS ANGELES (AP)  â  [TGT] an old-fashioned rock superstar and everyman who drew upon the Byrds  the Beatles and other bands  [TGT]  worshipped as a boy and produced new classics such as âFree Fallin â² âRefugeeâ and âAmerican Girl â  has died.
  [TGT] passed away Monday night at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles after   [TGT]   suffered cardiac arrest at   [TGT]   home in Malibu  California  spokeswoman Carla Sacks said. He was 66.
  [TGT] and  [TGT]  longtime band the Heartbreakers had recently completed a 40th anniversary tour  one  [TGT]  hinted would be their last.
âIâm thinking it may be the last trip around the country â   [TGT] told Rolling Stone last year. âWeâre all on the backside of our 60s. I have a granddaughter now Iâd like to see as much as I can. I donât want to spend my life on the road. This tour will take me away for four months. With a little kid  thatâs a lot of time.â
Usually backed by  [TGT] broke through in the 1970s and went on to sell more than 80 million records. The Gainesville  Florida  native with the shaggy blond hair and gaunt features was loved for his melodic hard rock  nasally vocals and down-to-earth style. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame  which inducted Petty and the Heartbreakers in 2002  praised them as âdurable  resourceful  hard-working  likeable and unpretentious.â
  [TGT] didnât just sing about not backing down   he  lived it. In 1979   he  was enraged when  his  record label was sold and  his  contract transferred. Stating that  he  would not be âbought and sold like a piece of meat â  he  self-financed what became âDamn the Torpedoesâ and declared bankruptcy rather than allowing  his  label  MCA  to release it.  He  eventually reached a new deal with MCA  for better terms. In the early 1980s   he  was again at war with MCA  this time over the labelâs plans to charge extra money  a dollar higher than the standard $8.98  for  his  album âHard Promises.â  He  again prevailed.
 Petty  was both a musician and obsessive fan  one who met  his  childhood heroes and lived out the fantasies of countless young rock lovers.  He  befriended Byrds leader Roger McGuinn and became close to George Harrison  who performed on âI Wonât Back Downâ and joined Petty  Bob Dylan  Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne in the impromptu super group the Traveling Wilburys.  Petty  inducted Harrison into the Rock Hall in 2004; two years earlier Dylanâs son Jakob inducted  Petty . In the 1980s  Petty and the Heartbreakers supported Bob Dylan on a nationwide tour.
He would speak of being consumed by rock music since childhood  to the point where father  whom  Petty  would later say beat him savagely  thought he was âmental.â Awed by the chiming guitars of the Byrds  the melodic genius of the Beatles and the snarling lyrics of Dylan  he was amazed to find that other kids were feeling the same way.
By his early 20s   Petty  had formed the group Mudcrutch with fellow Gainesville natives and future Heartbreakers (guitarist) Mike Campbell and (keyboardist) Benmont Tench. They soon broke up  but reunited in Los Angeles as the Heartbreakers  joined by bassist Ron Blair and drummer Stan Lynch. Their eponymous debut album came out in 1976 and they soon built a wide following  fitting easily into the New Wave sounds of the time.
The world changed more than  Petty  did over the past few decades. In 2014  around the time  he  received an ASCAP Founders Award   he  told The Associated Press that  he  thought of  himself  as âkind of a music historian.â
âIâm always interested in the older music  and Iâm still always discovering things that I didnât know about â  he  said. âTo be honest  I really probably spend more time listening to the old stuff than I do the new stuff.â