Heartbroken

News broke yesterday afternoon that Tom Petty had suffered from total cardiac arrest and was taken to a local, California hospital in the early morning hours.  As a direct result of today's, 24-hour news cycle and "gotta get it up first" mentality, reports about his actual state of being clashed, with some outlets claiming he was in critical condition, with others stating that he had already died.  For most of the rest of the night, the world waited (which we all know is the hardest part) with bated breath, wondering what was going to become of one of America's greatest rockers.

Unfortunately, around 11:30 pm, the worst was confirmed by both his daughter and his band, the Heartbreakers, on their respective social media accounts.

Tom Petty was one of my earliest musical fascinations and, silly enough, one that I discovered quite by accident.  As I've mentioned on this blog, I was a huuuuuge NASCAR fan during my early teens and my all-time favorite racer was Richard Petty.  "The King's" son, Kyle, dabbled in country music and recorded a song about his dear old dad and I combed the internet in search of that .mp3 file, back in the days before iTunes put everything right out in the open.  On one of those file sharing sites, while searching for Kyle Petty, I found Tom Petty (who I was amazed was of no relation) and my world changed.  It was a really weird and backwards way of discovering the musical legend, but the path eventually lead me "into the great wide open."


 

Since that twisted trip, I've grown up on Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.  I could go on and on and on about how "Don't Come Around Here No More" meant so much to me and how Damn the Torpedoes changed my perspective on life, or tell you about that time me and my friends drove around St. Louis blasting and singing along to "Free Fallin'," but there will be plenty of that prose published by more qualified writers in the next few days, so I'll leave it to them.  However, I still feel compelled to pay tribute to a frontman who's unique and unconventional voice has been a part of my life since I first started paying attention to rock and roll.

Therefore, I created the custom card that lead off this tribute post, based on the iconic "In Memoriam" single that Topps included in their 1964 checklist.  This card paid tribute to Cubs second baseman, Ken Hubbs, who tragically died while "Learning to Fly."  This is a Cubs blog after all.  Speaking of which, earlier this summer, Petty played to a packed house at the home of my beloved Cubs, Wrigley Field.  It was a rainy and dreary afternoon, but Petty and his Heartbreakers tore through a hit-filled set-list and left the crowd wanting more.

I wanted to go, but concert ticket prices at the Friendly Confines are anything but friendly to my wallet. Thus, I talked myself out of it, even while a group of my friends took the plunge.  It's a minor disappointment in the grand scheme of life, I suppose, but now I'm depressed that I'll never get to see one of my favorite bands in concert.  That's the way the cookie crumbles, I guess.

At any rate, we've lost so, so many treasured musicians over the last couple of years - Petty, Chester Bennington, Chuck Berry, Chris Cornell, Prince, David Bowie, Lemmy Kilmister, Scott Weiland... the list goes on and on.  Though we don't know these people personally, their music and their lyrics affect us so greatly that sometimes it feels like we do.  These words and notes connect with us in such a way that our lives are affected and changed by their art.  So, when we lose them, it feels like we're losing a loved one... and we've lost a lot of loved ones lately.

That's without even considering the absolutely devastating events out in Las Vegas, which began our yesterday with immense grief and sorrow.  Right now, the world is a "heartbreaking" place; but, in the words of Tom Petty, "I'll stand my ground, won't be turned around/And I'll keep this world from draggin' me down/Gonna stand my ground and I won't back down."

I'll wrap up this final tribute with my absolute favorite track from Mr. Petty, "Even the Losers."  Let's just say that I could easily identify with the story told in this single during my high school and early adult years.

R.I.P. Tom Petty