We lost Tom Petty at age 66. I've always been drawn to singer with less than perfect voices for some reason. Tom is one of them. I only had a the chance to see Tom live one time. It was a long time ago. I remember walking into the Rosemont Horizon the suburbs of Chicago. We were a little late and Lenny Kravitz was already on stage. The main thing I remember about Lenny was that he had a potty mouth. :)
I don't remember the year but from the video below it must have been around the time "Don't Come Around Here No More" came out. For a while there Tom would wear this big Top Hat. I think it's a bit exaggerated in the video but...
Anyway during the concert they stopped the music and brought out this big treasure chest on the stage. Imagine all the lights on it in the middle of the stage. Tom proceeded to make a show of opening the chest...to pull out his big top hat and the place went wide. It's a great memory. Thank you sir.
If you get a chance there is a Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers documentary from about 10 years ago on Netflix. It is really worth a look. He did quite a bit to change the music industry that you may or may not be aware of.
Here are a few thoughts from other Tom Petty fans. They span the generations.