By Horace Assar, Arjot Pabla, Demisha Simmons-Price, & Princess Ganutan, Courier Staff Writers
After decades of performing with the Heartbreakers, Tom Petty has died of cardiac arrest at the age of 66.
Petty was a California rock star inspired by many great artists such as Bob Dylan, the Byrds, Rolling Stones, and the Beatles. Some of Petty’s greatest hits include Free Fallin’, You Don’t Know How it Feels, and I Won’t Back Down.
With a talent for songwriting and a magnificent voice, Tom Petty gave the Heartbreakers a 1960s contemporary feel and sound. Well into 2017, Petty continued to perform at live concerts, with his hits earning millions of dollars. He entered the Rock and Roll hall of fame in 2002, and in 2008, he played at the Super Bowl halftime show.
Petty had an influential and lasting impact on several Logan teachers.
Mr. Hannigan, the Courier advisor, said, “It’s a tragedy. The first I saw him was in 1977, and it was the greatest show I have ever seen. It is a terrible loss and scary for me because he is only a few years older than me. I wish I’d gone and seen him in his last Bay Area show […] it is too bad that not many students are familiar with his work.”
Mr. Campbell, an AP Language teacher, stated, “I was disappointed and he wasn’t that old. I enjoyed him for a long time. I might have seen him in the early 80s but I didn’t know who he was because I’ve seen a lot of concerts […] in my adult years I haven’t seen him. My favorite songs are Free Fallin’ and the work he’s done with the Travelling Rovers […] Every generation has its own sound but it is good to appreciate music that came before. I was in high school in the 80s and that was the sound […] He will never resonate with another generation […] [Although] he is not living anymore, his music still is.”
American singer Bob Dylan immediately responded to Tom Petty’s death, saying, “It’s shocking, crushing news. I thought the world of Tom. He was a great performer, full of light, a friend, and I’ll never forget him.”
“A musical accident, no more, no less,” Tom Petty once wrote. “In these times we live in, this is hardly news.”