50 Fun Facts About Tom Petty

Which Florida city was Tom Petty born and raised in?

The city gave him the keys twice, renamed a park after him and painted a tribute on its 34th Street Wall a week after he died.

What was Petty's pseudonym on the first Wilburys album?

Lucky was Dylan, Otis was Lynne and Lefty was Orbison; on the second album Petty became Muddy Wilbury.

Which Wilburys song was originally meant as a B-side for a George Harrison single?

Warner Bros. had asked Harrison for a European B-side to This Is Love; the result was judged too good to waste.

The supergroup's second album, made as a quartet after Orbison died, skipped a number. What was it?

The name was a response to bootlegged sessions being sold as Vol. 2; Orbison had died before it was recorded.

What was the title of Petty's 1989 debut solo album?

It featured I Won't Back Down, Free Fallin' and Runnin' Down a Dream, and MCA initially refused to release it.

Who co-produced Petty's 1989 solo debut with him and Mike Campbell?

The ELO leader's glossy production gave the record a Beatlesque feel; the two later split Sam Smith royalties.

Which MCA executive initially refused to release Petty's 1989 solo debut, believing it had no hits?

Azoff resigned within months and the new MCA management put it out; it went five-times platinum.

Who appears on drums in the I Won't Back Down video, though the part was played by Phil Jones?

Two other Wilburys, Harrison and Orbison, played on the album itself.

Which producer made Wildflowers and two further albums with Petty?

Petty said he and Rubin wanted more freedom than being strapped into five guys, so the record went out under his name alone.

Wildflowers was originally planned as a double album of how many songs?

Warner's Lenny Waronker thought it too long; the ten leftovers surfaced in 2020 as Wildflowers & All the Rest.

Which Wildflowers outtake became a hit the next year for Rod Stewart?

Four other outtakes were reworked for the She's the One soundtrack in 1996.

What was the name of Petty's pre-Heartbreakers band, reformed in 2007?

It grew out of a group called the Epics and included future Heartbreakers Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench.

What was the only 1970s single by Petty's first signed band, released by Shelter in 1975?

It failed to chart and Shelter broke the band up later that year, keeping only Petty under contract.

Whose independent label, Shelter Records, signed Petty's first band after its move to Los Angeles?

The band kept recording at Russell's Tulsa studio and later at his home in Encino.

Tom Leadon, who co-founded Petty's first band with him, was the brother of a member of which band?

Bernie Leadon was a founding Eagle; another Gainesville native, Don Felder, joined the Eagles later.

Which future Eagle claimed to have been one of Petty's first guitar teachers?

Petty remembered it differently, saying Felder taught him piano instead.

At age ten, Petty met which star on the set of the film Follow That Dream?

His uncle was working on the shoot in Ocala; Petty came home and traded his slingshot for a pile of Elvis 45s.

Petty traded which toy for a collection of Elvis singles after meeting Presley?

He said of the encounter: Elvis glowed.

What odd job did Petty briefly hold as a young man?

He also worked on the University of Florida grounds crew; a lime tree there is called the Tom Petty tree.

Which 1979 album was the Heartbreakers' breakthrough, with Refugee and Don't Do Me Like That?

It went platinum quickly and sold nearly two million copies.

What did Petty file for in May 1979 to avoid being transferred to MCA without his consent?

He ended up signed to the new MCA subsidiary Backstreet Records, on his own terms.

What list price did Petty fight MCA over for the 1981 album Hard Promises?

He considered naming the album Eight Ninety-Eight in protest; MCA backed down.

Petty's first duet, Insider on Hard Promises, was with which singer?

Nicks also joined the band at Bonnaroo 2006 for Stop Draggin' My Heart Around.

A misheard remark by Petty's first wife inspired the title of which 1981 hit?

Jane Benyo said she met Petty at the age of seventeen; Nicks heard the North Florida accent differently.

In the Don't Come Around Here No More video, Petty dressed as which character?

The Dave Stewart-produced single came from Southern Accents; the video ends with Alice served as cake.

Which bassist replaced Ron Blair in the Heartbreakers for 1982's Long After Dark?

That lineup lasted until 1994; the album's hit was You Got Lucky.

Who invited the Heartbreakers to back him on the 60-date True Confessions Tour in 1986?

Petty and Dylan also co-wrote Jammin' Me, released on Let Me Up (I've Had Enough) in 1987.

Which Philadelphia venue hosted the Heartbreakers' four-song Live Aid set in 1985?

The crowd was 89,484; Southern Accents came out the same year.

Which two actors appeared in the music video for Into the Great Wide Open?

The 1991 album was co-produced by Jeff Lynne and also yielded Learning to Fly.

Which animated series featured Petty as the voice of Lucky Kleinschmidt from 2004 to 2009?

He voiced the character in 28 episodes; he had guest-starred as himself on The Simpsons in 2002.

In which Kevin Costner film did Petty play the Bridge City Mayor?

The dialogue implies he is playing a future version of himself.

Which Super Bowl's halftime show did the Heartbreakers play in February 2008?

They played American Girl, I Won't Back Down, Free Fallin' and Runnin' Down a Dream in Glendale, Arizona.

Which 2014 album was the Heartbreakers' first to top the Billboard 200?

It came 38 years after the debut; Mojo had stalled at number two in 2010.

Petty's 2002 album The Last DJ was inspired by which Los Angeles radio personality?

The album was a critique of the music industry and peaked at number nine.

Where did the Heartbreakers play their final concert on September 25, 2017?

The 40th Anniversary Tour closer ended with American Girl; Petty died one week later.

Which two writers received 12.5 percent each of the royalties from Sam Smith's Stay with Me?

Smith's writers acknowledged similarities to I Won't Back Down; Petty said he did not believe Smith plagiarised him.

Which band's Last Nite did Petty say had borrowed from American Girl?

He laughed it off: I was like, OK, good for you. He did not believe in lawsuits much.

Which tire company did Petty sue in 1987 over a commercial that resembled Mary's New Car?

The ad agency had asked to use the real song and been refused; the case settled out of court.

What signature item of Petty's was destroyed when an arsonist burned his Encino home in 1987?

The basement studio, the master tapes and his Gibson Dove were saved; the arsonist was never caught.

Who officiated Petty's 2001 wedding to Dana York at their Malibu home?

An all-female mariachi band played; the couple had already married in Las Vegas earlier that month.

Which Johnny Cash album, provisionally titled Petty Cash, featured the Heartbreakers as backing band?

It won Cash a Grammy for Best Country Album; he later covered I Won't Back Down.

Petty's 1996 soundtrack was for which film starring Cameron Diaz and Jennifer Aniston?

Its singles included Walls (Circus) with Lindsey Buckingham and a Lucinda Williams song, Change the Locks.

In what year were Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

The ceremony was in December 2001, the 2002 class; the Hall mounted a Petty exhibit in 2006.

What was the name of Petty's XM Satellite Radio show, launched in 2005?

He played selections from his own record collection on it.

Which Petty song soundtracked the first Grand Theft Auto VI trailer in December 2023?

Its Spotify streams jumped nearly 37,000 percent and it hit number two on the worldwide iTunes chart.

Who directed the 2007 documentary Runnin' Down a Dream about Petty's career?

It premiered at the New York Film Festival in October 2007.

What honorary degree did the University of Florida vote to award Petty posthumously in 2021?

He had worked on the university's grounds crew but never enrolled as a student.

Petty's 1993 Greatest Hits package, which sold over ten million copies, included which new song?

It was Stan Lynch's last recorded performance with the band; Petty said he left without really saying goodbye.

Which opening act joined the Heartbreakers on stage in 2008 to play Gimme Some Lovin'?

Winwood's Spencer Davis Group hit was a regular guest spot on that summer's North American tour.

Which guitar maker's 660/12TP model carried Petty's signature from 1991 to 1997?

His main electric was actually a sunburst 1964 Fender Stratocaster owned by Mike Campbell.