Today is a hard day. To wake up and read the tragic news that 58 people lost their lives at a country music festival in Las Vegas, and now in the last few hours we learn that rock legend Tom Petty suffered a heart attack. There has been conflicting reports as to whether or not Petty has died, but TMZ has reported that the musician is “clinging to life”.
Petty who came to prominence in the 70’s with the Heartbreakers, has influenced multiple generations of alternative bands with the most notable being the Foo Fighters. Petty’s sincere embrace of rock with emotion and conviction is something you can see with Dave Grohl and his band which is why the Foos have utilized Petty’s groovy long jam ‘Breakdown’ to loosen up their marathon shows over the years.
There was kinship between the Foos and Heartbreakers over the years. In February, Tom Petty was honored at the annual MusicCares event in Los Angeles, where Grohl contributed to an all-star tribute to the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer. In July, the Foo Fighters along with Petty and the Heartbreakers headlined the BottleRock festival together in Napa Valley, California. Grohl has jammed on stage with Petty on a couple of noteworthy occasions as well. In 2007, the former Nirvana drummer joined the Hearbreakers to close out the AmsterJam festival In New York.
Grohl helped out the Heartbreakers to fill-in on drums during a ‘Saturday Night Live’ performance in 1994. It was one of the first big shows for Grohl following the abrupt and sad end of Nirvana withe singer/guitarists Kurt Cobain passing away just seven months earlier. Here is Dave sitting in with the Heartbreakers for the head-bobbing track ‘HoneyBee’.
https://youtu.be/XtlBnxyXNGI
Here is a fan shot video of the Foo Fighters performing the 1976 hit from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers self-titled album. This video was shot during the 2011 ‘Wasting Light’ tour.
