Tom Petty Fun Facts, Quotes and Tweets
14th March 2017
Fact: Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers and Mumford & Sons will headline the inaugural Arroyo Seco Weekend festival in June (17). The event will be held in the park surrounding the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, and will also feature sets from The Shins, Weezer, and Alabama Shakes.
13th December 2016
Fact: Tom Petty and his band the Heartbreakers will headline the British Summer Time Festival in London's Hyde Park on 9 July (17) as part of their 40th anniversary tour. They will be supported by Stevie Nicks and The Lumineers. Other headliners include Green Day, Justin Bieber, Kings of Leon, and Phil Collins.
29th September 2016
Fact: Tom Petty will be honored as the 2017 MusiCares Person of the Year. The rocker will be feted at the organisation's annual gala and concert in February, two days before next year's Grammy Awards. Multi-Grammy winner Petty is being honoured for his career achievements, his interest in defending artists' rights, and his charitable work. Lionel Richie was 2016's MusiCares Person of the Year.
27th March 2016
Fact: Rocker Tom Petty is heading out on the road with his early 1970s rock band Mudcrutch for the first time. Petty reformed his pre-Heartbreakers band in 2008 for a self-titled debut album and a series of California club dates, and now as the quintet plans to release a second LP in May (16), the act has announced proper tour dates. Mudcrutch will kick off their first American tour in Denver, Colorado on 26 May (16). The band formed in 1970 in Petty's native Gainesville, Florida and initially broke up in 1975.
16th July 2015
Quote: "That sounds really dull to me. I've heard about that and it sounds dull. Why would you want to do that? Records aren't made, at least mine, to be concerts. They aren't paced in that way. I don't know that doing one all the way through would make a great concert." Tom Petty has no plans to perform one of his classic albums in its entirety.
25th July 2014
Quote: "I'm old enough to have lived in a country where, if you were willing to work hard, you could have a fairly nice life. You could support your family, and even get a shot at owning your own home. But you never thought you'd get a swimming pool. Now culture has hypnotised people into thinking they're really nothing if they're not wealthy and a Kardashian." Tom Petty is not a fan of modern America.
21st July 2014
Quote: "I wait until it's really late, get stoned, go to the Jefferson Memorial, and just sit there and read the walls. I've done that a few times." Tom Petty loves to visit his historical hero's monument whenever he's touring through Washington, D.C.
21st July 2014
Quote: "Rick Rubin was the first vegan I ever met, and his eyes just shine. But I don't know if I can go that far." Rocker Tom Petty, who became a vegetarian at the end of last year (13).
21st July 2014
Quote: "I'm an addict, man. I'm a sick f**k. I don't light up in the car because people get upset, but I don't understand why I can't light up in a bar or park. I think that's yuppie s**t." Tom Petty insists he'll never quit smoking.
19th July 2014
Quote: "I didn't really like him, so I never really got to know him. It was many, many years before I believed that people had real relationships with their fathers. I thought they were putting me on. I was scared to death of all adults. I didn't trust any of them. Maybe he did me a favour in a way." Rocker Tom Petty has learned to forgive his dad for his drunken behaviour as a kid.
18th July 2014
Quote: "I'm fine with whatever religion you want to have (but) if I was in a club, and I found out that there had been generations of people abusing children, and then that club was covering that up, I would quit the club. And I wouldn't give them any more money." Tom Petty on his new anti-Catholic Church tune, Playing Dumb.
24th April 2014
Quote: "I'm still just a s**t kicker from Gainesville (Florida). I just have a lot nicer house." Rocker Tom Petty insisted he has remained humble as he accepted the Founders Award at the ASCAP Pop Awards in Los Angeles on Wednesday night (23Apr14).
10th April 2014
Fact: Comedian and late night Tv host Jimmy Fallon helped singer Stevie Nicks recreate the video for her 1981 duet with Tom Petty, Stop Draggin' My Heart Around, on Wednesday (09Apr14) by dressing up as the veteran rocker in a blond wig, black blazer and jeans and strumming the guitar as he did his best impression of Petty's vocals.
17th February 2014
Fact: Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers keyboard player Benmont Tench is set to release his first-ever solo album. Tench's You Should Be So Lucky will debut on Tuesday (18Feb14) and will include collaborations with Petty, Ringo Starr and Ryan Adams. The album will include 10 original tracks and covers of Bob Dylan's Duquesne Whistle and blues standard Corrine, Corrina.
10th February 2014
Quote: "I used to try and meet rock stars after we saw their concerts. I can remember staking out elevators and stairwells of hotels trying to meet Tom Petty. There was a small group of us who finally got in an elevator with him and we all ended up sweating and looking down, too nervous to talk. It's the nearest I came to being a groupie!" Meg Ryan remembers her time as a Tom Petty groupie.
17th June 2013
Quote: "I predict you're going to have an incredible time tonight. I don't have to be anywhere for hours." Rocker Tom Petty ended up playing for more than two hours with his band the Heartbreakers as they closed the Bonnaroo music festival in Tennessee on Sunday (16Jun13).
10th June 2013
Quote: "I don't like to assign blame, but it wasn't me. I'm absolutely sure we're going to work this out. If I have to pay it myself, everyone will be reimbursed." Tom Petty is still upset about the fact his concert in Los Angeles on Saturday night (08Jun13) was shut down by city fire marshalls on grounds of overcrowding. Officials insisted the gig at the Henry Fonda Theater had to end roughly 90 minutes into the show. Another concert at the same venue on Sunday night (09Jun13) went off without a hitch.
23rd June 2012
Fact: Rocker Tom Petty played his first ever U.K. festival set with his band The Heartbreakers as he closed the first day of Britain's Isle Of Wight Festival on Friday (22Jun12). Severe weather earlier in the day had threatened to ruin the event, but the sun came out for Petty and fellow performers Elbow, Lana Del Rey, Noah And The Whale and Example.
20th April 2012
Quote: "He was one of the greatest human beings that ever was." Tom Petty dedicates his hit The Best of Everything to the late Levon Helm at the rocker's tour debut in Colorado on Thursday night (19Apr12).
24th November 2011
Quote: "I think about it every day. We talk about it. I can't say it'll happen but I think it's very probable." Tom Petty on reforming his first band Mudcrutch.
5th September 2011
Quote: "George used to hang over the balcony videoing Bob while Bob wasn't aware of it. Bob would be sitting at the piano, playing, and George would tape it and listen to it all night." Tom Petty reveals pal George Harrison idolised their Traveling Wilburys bandmate Bob Dylan
24th June 2010
Quote: "We're getting along ridiculously well. It's disgusting to see old men so happy." Tom Petty on life with his band THE HEARTBREAKERS.
24th June 2010
Quote: "I've had a few close calls, so everyone has asked me not to drive, and I don't. (I) haven't driven for a long time." Tom Petty accepts he's a terrible driver.
23rd June 2010
Quote: "We could solve a lot of problems with the tax money, and the medical benefits are well-proven. Pretending America isn't using marijuana is ridiculous, so I'm glad I got that statement." Tom Petty on calling for the legalisation of marijuana in the lyrics of his new song DON'T PULL ME OVER.
24th April 2010
Quote: "I lost her kind of early. She had cancer, and she also had epilepsy, which was brought on by a car accident. We had to watch her fade out slowly. It was very painful." Tom Petty on the death of his mother.
12th March 2010
Quote: "My first gig was in Gainesville, Florida... Out comes this black Jew with an electric guitar and all these confederate flags... I was like, 'What is this?' But it was awesome." Lenny Kravitz recalls supporting Tom Petty & THE HEARTBREAKERS on his first tour.
26th February 2010
Fact: Tom Petty & THE HEARTBREAKERS are set to release their 12th studio album this spring (10), marking their first new music in eight years. Mojo is the rocker's first new record since 2002's The Last DJ.
28th November 2009
Quote: "We did a show with Elvis Costello very early on. We still laugh about it when we get together. It was Elvis Costello & The Attractions, and us, in a 1,200-seat theatre for a buck (dollar). And we didn't sell out." Tom Petty recalls a laughable early Heartbreakers double-bill.
25th November 2009
Quote: "I always admired, and felt for, Mick Jagger. I've been to the Stones' rehearsals. You gotta run that band - and he does, maybe to a fault... I thought Jagger was a great band leader, because the Stones always had a good show, and the material was well picked." Tom Petty credits MICK JAGGER for the Rolling Stones' success.
10th November 2008
Quote: "That house I have on a lake plays a big role these days. I get some books, sit around and read for awhile, then maybe go out on my boat and try to catch a few bass, come in and watch a few movies in the evening, maybe smoke one (joint), play guitar or noodle at the piano." Tom Petty on his time off.
28th July 2008
Quote: "I do like Tom Petty an awful lot. I always say that he's my real father, but I'm joking in that imaginary orphan way." Christina Ricci thinks TOM PETTY would make a great dad.
18th February 2008
Fact: Rocker Tom Petty's 1989 song FREE FALLIN' enjoyed a 305 per cent increase in download sales in the week following his half-time performance with THE HEARTBREAKERS at the Super Bowl earlier this month (Feb08).
18th December 2007
Fact: Tom Petty + THE HEARTBREAKERS' Super Bowl half-time performance in February (08) will be seen by nearly one billion people in over 230 countries and territories worldwide.
5th December 2007
Quote: "I'm trying to, right now, figure out how much material I can squeeze into that short space of time... I doubt we'd do a medley... It's not the kind of band that can remember a medley." Tom Petty on preparing for his 15-minute show at the SuperBowl.
5th December 2007
Quote: "I don't think anyone was too big on me making drug references... It was strongly hinted that playing YOU DON'T KNOW HOW IT FEELS probably wasn't the best thing. It's a family show." Rocker Tom Petty on the restrictions handed to him for his February (08) SuperBowl appearance.
5th December 2007
Quote: "This is the only way I could get tickets." Tom Petty on his decision to perform during half-time at the SuperBowl in February (07).
5th October 2007
Quote: "I always liked the idea of the guitar - because cowboys played the guitar." Veteran rocker Tom Petty is a rock 'n' roll outlaw.
27th May 2007
Fact: Rockers Poison have recorded a version of Tom Petty + THE HEARTBREAKERS hit I NEED TO KNOW for an upcoming album of classic rock covers.
18th January 2007
Quote: "I can never have a gun in my house. I'd just start shooting. Not at people, but I'd go out and kill a tree." Veteran American rocker Tom Petty explains why he doesn't own a firearm.
11th October 2006
Fact: Country superstar Keith Urban joined Sheryl Crow on stage at the Starwood Ampitheatre in Nashville, Tennessee on Sunday (08OCT06). The pair played Crow's IF IT MAKES YOU HAPPY and the Tom Petty/Stevie Nicks duet STOP DRAGGIN' MY HEART AROUND.
26th July 2006
Quote: "It's one of the most depressing songs in rock history... I was in a rough place when I did that record. I had some long periods of severe depression." Tom Petty gets down about his 1999 album ECHO, which opened with the song ROOM AT THE TOP.
25th July 2006
Quote: "I think it's odd that Rick Rubin produced both records and never noticed it when my gardener did. I won't sue, but I wouldn't mind if they cut me in for a piece." Tom Petty partly blames producer Rick Rubin for the well-publicised similarities between the Red Hot Chili Peppers hit DANI CALIFORNIA and his MARY JANE'S LAST DANCE.
17th December 2005
Fact: <p>Rocker Tom Petty's satellite radio show, TOM PETTY'S BURIED TREASURE, has been picked up for a second season. The FREE FALLING singer's XM Satellite Radio show will air weekly from 19 December (05). </p>
1st December 2005
Quote: <p>"It's our band, you know. We started it from nothing and we own it, and I want people to trust it. It's not for sale." Tom Petty explains why he will never let the music of TOM PETTY AND THE HEARTBREAKERS be touched by corporate sponsorship. </p>
Tom Petty
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