2016.5

Yeah.

Ectually, announcements of his passing may be premature. Stay tooned!

Last I heard he was flatlining on the brainwaves, so, I don't have much hope.

(sadnods)

Hell of an artist.

Yup. Just finished a concert tour coupla days ago, too...

Went out on the top of his game. Best way.

He will be one of my personal music heroes forever. So sad that he died so young. 66 years... that is nothing! I never was able to see him on tour live. Because he never was on tour in Europe i guess.

The fact that he got this heart attack at home is something where i am a lil bit.. angry? about. Because if that shit would happened on stage then many medical health teams are at the location and he would be still alive.

R.I.P. Tom Petty

Yeah, I wanted to see him too.

Mr. Petty pretty much defined the sound of American rock music in the late 70's and early 80's with his blend of folk, blues, modern pop, and sometimes jazz. His was a very unique voice in music that blurred lines between genres and filled a niche of honest music outside of the flash and theater of the more mainstream rock of the time.

Probably my favorite thing about him though is how he consistently fought against the music industry to maintain creative control over his works. He was a staunch advocate of artists rights and was quick to call out the industry on its greed.

I was never a particularly big fan of Mr. Petty's (I was born a decade too late and discovered Journey and Heart first), but I remember hearing his songs on the radio all the time, and I definitely respected him. News of his passing hit me harder than I would have expected too.

Bizarrely, I actually predicted it about two days before it happened.

He was a big chunk of my personal soundtrack as kid. So, this is a real kick in the gut.