{"id":868827,"date":"2026-10-03T00:28:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-03T00:28:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/868827\/"},"modified":"2026-10-03T00:28:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-03T00:28:11","slug":"9-years-ago-today-the-world-lost-the-classic-rock-icon-whose-songs-have-been-covered-by-pearl-jam-johnny-cash-and-linda-ronstadt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/868827\/","title":{"rendered":"9 Years Ago Today, the World Lost the Classic Rock Icon Whose Songs Have Been Covered by Pearl Jam, Johnny Cash, and Linda Ronstadt"},"content":{"rendered":"

On this day (October 2) in 2017, Tom Petty<\/a> died from an accidental drug overdose in his Santa Monica, California, home at the age of 66. He and his longtime bandmates in the Heartbreakers kept their feet planted in classic rock and folk music while experimenting with other sounds. The result was a body of work that spanned genres and generations, making Petty one of the most influential artists and songwriters of a generation.<\/p>\n

Petty became interested in rock and roll when he was ten years old. His uncle was working on the set of the Elvis Presley film Follow That Dream and took him to meet the King. Soon, he dove headfirst into Presley\u2019s discography and found his passion for music. Like many other artists his age, Petty knew he wanted to be in a band when he first saw the Beatles on television.<\/p>\n

\t\t\tVideos by American Songwriter\t\t<\/p>\n

\u201cThe minute I saw the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show\u2013and it\u2019s true for thousands of guys\u2013there was the way out. There was a way to do it,\u201d Petty told NPR<\/a>. \u201cYou get your friends together, and you\u2019re a self-contained unit. And you make the music. It looked like so much fun. It was something I identified with. I had never been hugely into sports,\u201d he added. \u201cI had been a big fan of Elvis. But I really saw in the Beatles that here\u2019s something I could do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Soon, he started his first band, the Epics. Later, that band became Mudcrutch. The original lineup included Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench, who would be with Petty for the next four decades.<\/p>\n

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers<\/p>\n

Mudcrutch inked a deal with Shelter Records, but went nowhere. After they split, Tom Petty embarked on a solo career. At the same time, Tench started another band. Before long, Petty and Campbell joined Tench, Stan Lynch and Ron Blair to form the Heartbreakers. Their self-titled debut album hit shelves in November 1976. It reached No. 55 on the Billboard 200. More importantly, it introduced \u201cAmerican Girl,\u201d one of the band\u2019s signature songs. \u201cBreakdown\u201d and their first UK hit \u201cAnything That\u2019s Rock \u2018n\u2019 Roll\u201d also came from their debut release.<\/p>\n

The band released their debut album, Damn the Torpedos, in 1979. It included their sole top 10 hit, \u201cDon\u2019t Do Me Like That.\u201d Petty only had one other single reach the top 10 of the Hot 100. \u201cFree Fallin\u2019,\u201d taken from this debut solo outing, reached No. 7 in 1989.<\/p>\n

Petty was more successful on the Mainstream Rock chart, where he notched nine chart-toppers and several more top-10 hits both solo and with the Heartbreakers. \u201cRoom at the Top,\u201d \u201cYou Don\u2019t Know How It Feels,\u201d \u201cMary Jane\u2019s Last Dance,\u201d and \u201cI Won\u2019t Back Down\u201d were among the classics that went to No. 1.<\/p>\n

The Traveling Wilburys and Solo Work<\/p>\n

In the late 1980s, Tom Petty found himself working with one of the men who inspired him to start a band. Former Beatle George Harrison was working on a solo album, which brought Petty, Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne, and Roy Orbison together with Harrison in the studio. They recorded \u201cHandle with Care\u201d and liked it so much that they decided to record a full album together. Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 dropped in October 1988. Two months later, Orbison died. They continued as a quartet and released Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3 in 1990.<\/p>\n

In 1989, Petty released his debut solo album, Full Moon Fever. While it wasn\u2019t a Heartbreakers album, nearly everyone in the band contributed. Only drummer Stan Lynch abstained. The LP contained classics like \u201cI Won\u2019t Back Down\u201d and \u201cFree Fallin\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Five years later, Petty returned with Wildflowers, which introduced \u201cI Won\u2019t Back Down,\u201d \u201cYou Don\u2019t Know How It Feels,\u201d and \u201cYou Wreck Me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Petty released his final solo album, Highway Companion, in 2006. He wrote all of the songs on the LP, including the singles \u201cSaving Grace\u201d and \u201cFlirting with Time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Standout Tom Petty Covers<\/p>\n

Several labels have been placed on Tom Petty\u2019s music. However, his songwriting and output defied any box they were shoved into. Was his music heartland rock? Southern rock? Folk rock? Yes, and no. The variety of artists who covered his songs speaks to his versatility and relatability. A few notable covers are below.<\/p>\n

\u201cFree Fallin\u2019\u201d\u2013Stevie Nicks<\/p>\n

\u201cBreakdown\u201d\u2013Grace Jones<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Waiting\u201d\u2013Linda Ronstadt<\/p>\n

\u201cSouthern Accents\u201d\u2013Johnny Cash<\/p>\n

\u201cI Won\u2019t Back Down\u201d\u2013Pearl Jam<\/p>\n

\u201cRoom at the Top\u201d\u2013Jason Isbell<\/p>\n

Featured Image by Gary Gershoff\/Getty Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"On this day (October 2) in 2017, Tom Petty died from an accidental drug overdose in his Santa…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":868828,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[2616,20278,2617,88,216,36498],"class_list":["post-868827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-1970s","tag-1980s","tag-classic-rock","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-tom-petty"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/868827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=868827"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/868827\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/868828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=868827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=868827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=868827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}