Watch the final time Tom Petty played with The Heartbreakers
With each passing year, classic rock fans have to face up to grief. While their music will live on forever, it’s always a sad pill to swallow that the artists themselves won’t. No one can live forever, even though the world might want it to be so. At some point, there will always be a final show and a final encore. For Tom Petty, that came in 2017.
Chris Cornell, Chuck Berry, Chester Bennington, Glen Campbell; the year seemed to take so many legends. Petty’s death was just one of the devastating losses that year as he went unexpectedly, leaving the industry in shock.
Petty was only 66 when he died, and the footage of his final performances proved that he had plenty of good years left in him. Even though his band were on what they called their “last trip around the country,” with the intention to retire from touring, it never seemed like Petty would totally and utterly disappear from performing.
Clips from their final show at the Hollywood Bowl showed a performer with a clear and enduring love for his craft. With his hands in the air, commanding the band while the audience roars for more, he’s still the epitome of a frontman with real energy for it.
As they round off the set with their hit, ‘American Girl’, the opening riffs still feel electrifying. Even though Petty must have sung that sound thousands and thousands of times since its release in 1976, he still performs it with passion and excitement. And it still clearly translates as you can hear the crowd singing along, too, joining in with the anthemic classic rock track that’s beloved by so many. It was even said to be actor Carrie Fisher’s favourite song, with her daughter Billie Lourd dedicating a performance of it to her mother on her birthday.
It’s a track that will live on forever. A true American classic in every sense of the word, its simple rhythm and riffs paired with its singalong-ready lyrics feel totally timeless and just as good on each listen. It sits amongst tracks like Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Born In The USA’ or works by artists like the Eagles or any number of American rock legends that have been written into the country and the rest of the world’s songbook.
Petty, however, couldn’t live on with it. On October 2nd, 2017, he died from an accidental overdose. It was only two weeks prior, on September 25th, that the band played their final show, ending with ‘American Girl’ before Petty left the stage. He had no idea that it would be his final bow ever, but luckily, the screams from the audience seemed to give him the applause and thanks he deserved, not just for that show but for his whole career.
