![\"Tom](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Tom-Petty-Singer-Guitarist-1980s-Far-Out-Magazine-1140x855.jpg\")
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(Credits: Far Out \/ The Bigger Picture)<\/p>\n
Wed 1 October 2025 20:15, UK <\/p>\n
There are plenty of heartbreakers, ain\u2019t that the truth. But there was only one Tom Petty.<\/a><\/p>\n OK, actually, over the years, there were seven heartbreakers. Backing up Petty as they launched a takeover attack on classic rock and succeeded throughout the 1970s and \u201880s, the group delivered more than their fair share of timeless classics. They\u2019re perhaps one of the ultimate, epitomising examples of an \u2018all-American\u2019 act given that songs like \u2018American Girl\u2019 and \u2018Free Fallin\u2019\u2019 seem to be to the States what \u2018Wonderwall\u2019 is to the UK.\u00a0<\/p>\n Petty made himself an idol. When thinking about the most important musical moments of the \u201870s, \u201880s and onwards, he always seemed to be there, like his presence at Live Aid. But beyond events, he made friends in high places as a player that his peers deeply admired. He toured with Bob Dylan, he supported Bruce Springsteen, and essentially became the reason why Springsteen no longer has support acts<\/a>, and he was part of the Travelling Wilburys, earning a place in a supergroup of epic proportions.\u00a0<\/p>\n But all of that came down to the fact that Tom Petty was deeply liked, and his band were loved. He was the type of person that people wanted to be around, to be next to, or even the type of musician that other musicians wanted to be.<\/p>\n That\u2019s why the title of being an \u2018honorary Heartbreaker\u2019 felt to so many like a true badge of honour.<\/p>\n It was one that Stevie Nicks wore with absolute pride. Often called \u201cThe Heartbreakers\u2019 little sister\u201d by the band, Nicks and Petty collaborated on \u2018Stop Draggin\u2019 My Heart Around\u2019. If there was one band Nicks truly and deeply loved, it was Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. More so than any of her other powerful peers, she\u2019s always seemed to see them as the pinnacle, and as exactly the kind of rockstar she always wished to be if she wasn\u2019t to be a witchy woman.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cSo, listen, what I\u2019d really like to do is be in Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers\u2019 band,\u201d Nicks recalled telling Atlantic Records when she launched her solo career. \u201cI asked Tom if I could be an honorary Heartbreaker,\u201d<\/a> Nicks said when she finally got the chance, so it was a privilege to her when he replied, \u201c\u2018You already are one, Stevie.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The Bangles were another band that turned their love for Tom Petty into being taken under his wing. \u201cWe\u2019d call him, like, \u2018Hey, you want to go to dinner?\u2019\u201d Vicki Peterson recalled after her band and his became fast friends, \u201cAnd it\u2019d just be: \u2018I\u2019m. Calling. Tom Petty. Oh My God.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWith The Bangles, we\u2019d never gotten into the whole \u2018pop\u2019 thing \u2014 we are basically a garage band that moved onto the stage. The Heartbreakers felt that way too. So when we\u2019d happen to be in the same city, out on the road, we\u2019d hang out,\u201d she said as the two acts were like kindred spirits. <\/p>\n When he called them in to sing backing vocals on \u2018Waiting For Tonight\u2019, the deal was sealed that they were essentially honorary members with Peterson saying, \u201cI felt like I was in The Heartbreakers for a few days.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Stevie](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Stevie-Nicks-Tom-Petty-Split-Far-Out-Magazine-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a>Stevie Nicks always admired Tom Petty. (Credits: Far Out \/ Atlantic Catalog Group)<\/p>\n