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(Credits: Far Out \/ YouTube Still)<\/p>\n
Wed 11 February 2026 22:48, UK <\/p>\n
Tom Petty<\/a> didn\u2019t get into the music business with stars in his eyes. <\/p>\n The thought of playing to millions of people would have been enticing for any kid who picked up a guitar for the first time, but Petty was far more interested in making music with his friends than focusing on fame and money half the time. He certainly had his heroes that he looked up to when he first got started, but after a while, he didn\u2019t need to worry about seeking out his idols. If anything, his idols came to him half the time.<\/p>\n That said, it\u2019s not like Petty didn\u2019t have a fair bit of luck on his side when starting his career. Although Mudcrutch was never meant to go the distance, having the chance to live with Leon Russell and learn the mechanics of writing songs was like going to rock and roll boot camp before he started to put together the idea of the Heartbreakers. And even when he had his first smashes on the radio, it\u2019s not like he ever took his famous friends for granted.<\/p>\n All the way back on his debut record, Donald \u2018Duck\u2019 Dunn was playing bass on a few tracks, and in between working on his later records in the 1980s, he still found time to write a few tunes with Roger McGuinn and help produce Del Shannon\u2019s comeback record. That last one may have ended with Petty stealing Shannon\u2019s bassist, but it\u2019s not like there were any major hard feelings or anything.<\/p>\n Because, really, Petty\u2019s entire appeal was that he wasn\u2019t full of shit. Any major superstar can have those moments where they feel larger than life, but even at his peak, Petty was always an average rock and roll dude, proud to write another great tune whenever he walked into the studio. He was the kind of guy that you could sit down and have a beer with, and that\u2019s what made him so appealing to people like George Harrison when he got together with the Traveling Wilburys.<\/p>\n The Wilburys might have had enough star power to put any other rock and roll band to shame, but they weren\u2019t looking to flaunt their egos, either. If anything, Harrison wanted to downplay his ego every single time he got onstage, and even if there were moments where he could do the heavy listing on tunes like \u2018Handle With Care<\/a>\u2019, it made sense to throw a song to Petty, Bob Dylan, or Roy Orbison to see where they could take it when they stepped up to the microphone.<\/p>\n