When Tom Petty brought his 40th anniversary tour to an end on September 25th of last year at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, he wasn’t well, but he was pleased with how it went.
His widow Dana tells Billboard, “The day before he died he was pounding his chest going, ‘I’m on top of the world!’ Never had he been so proud of himself, so happy, so looking forward to the future — and then he’s gone.”
She also says it was his last go-round. “He’d had it in mind it was his last tour and he owed it to his long-time crew, from decades some of them, and his fans,” she says.
Petty not only hit the road with a broken hip, but just days before it started he received additional bad news.
“He would do anything to help anyone — his bandmates, the crew, the fans,” says Dana. “And that’s why he did the last tour with a fractured hip. He was adamant. He found out a few days before the tour was gonna start that he had emphysema.”
Petty’s death on October 2nd, 2017 was the result of an accidental drug overdose due to a variety of medications he was taking. He was 66.
Dana helped compile last Friday’s release of the An American Treasure box set. She says there is more to come, including the previously talked about Wildflowers box set and plenty of live shows.
