Tom Petty passed away seven years ago today (October 2). The lauded singer/songwriter, who had just finished a 40th anniversary U.S. tour with his longtime backing band The Heartbreakers a week earlier, died from cardiac arrest brought by an accidental overdose of painkillers and other drugs. He was 66.
In conjunction with the sad anniversary, a note paying tribute to Petty has been posted on his social media pages. The post is accompanied by archival footage of Tom chatting in a limousine with filmmaker and rock journalist Cameron Crowe.
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The note reads, “One of a kind. Forever missed. Forever loved by us all. October 20, 1950 – October 2, 2017.”
About the Archival Clip
The video clip, which was shot in 1982 or ’83, features Petty discussing his attitude about achieving rock stardom and success.
The clip begins with Crowe reminding Petty about a time in 1978 when he’d asked the rocker how he thought he’d adjust to life if he and his band became hugely popular, and that Tom had replied, “Easily.”
Petty reacts by laughing and then explains how he’s dealt with the success he’d experienced.
“It’s easy on some levels,” he notes in the clip. “With me … it’s like a recurring acid trip or something. It hits you later. When it’s all happening, there’s not time to think about it much. And then, you can kind of go through that deep depression about, ‘Oh no, we made it, and now it’s all this pressure.’”
Petty continues, “And sometimes I wish it wasn’t that way, but down deep I know that I … really dig it, or I wouldn’t do it. I’d just … be working at tearing it down, rather than preserving it, if I didn’t really dig it.”
Tom then reflects more on how he and others artists react to being popular and successful.
“I have a hard time sympathizing with people that bellyache about success,” he maintains. “And although I sympathize that it is a hard thing to deal with, just like any severe emotional condition is … I’m just … really glad that it’s that way.”
He adds, “I just hope we can maintain that level of respect from the audience. I think that our biggest reaction to it is that on some levels we have to take it more serious, and that we have to see that the audience is properly cared for in the way that the product is good and all that.”
About the Long After Dark Reissue and the Long-Lost Petty Documentary
As previously reported, an expanded reissue of Petty and the Heartbreakers’ 1982 album Long After Dark will be released on October 19.
The deluxe edition of Long After Dark features a newly remastered version of the original album, plus 12 bonus tracks.
The reissue, which can be pre-ordered now, will be available in multiple formats and configurations. They include a limited-edition two-LP set pressed on red-and-black-splatter vinyl, packaged with a lithograph, available exclusively at TomPetty.com. There’s also a three-disc collection featuring two CDs and a Blu-ray audio disc. The Blu-ray boasts high-res mixes of the album and the bonus tracks.
The reissue also will be released as a standard black-vinyl two-LP set.
Meanwhile, a restored and expanded version of a 1983 Petty and the Heartbreakers documentary called Heartbreakers Beach Party will be screened in select theaters on October 17 and October 20. The movie, which marked Crowe’s directorial debut, captures Petty and his band in 1982 and ’83 as they finished recording, promoted, and toured in support of Long After Dark.
The footage of Crowe chatting with Petty that was posted on Tom’s socials on October 2 apparently came from Heartbreakers Beach Party.