The Story Of Tom Petty Hearing News About John Lennon’s Death

The news of John Lennon’s death on the 8^th of December 1980, was devastating. To try and go on with your normal life knowing that someone so important in the annals of music history, died in the hands of a crazed fan, it felt as if it’s only a nightmarish dream you’d hope it will never happen. But, it did, and for Tom Petty, it was a lot to take in.

Tom Petty, just like the rest of us, truly loved The Beatles and the impact they gave to the world. To be able to reach millions of people with their songs and showed them that dreams do come true, that, for Petty is “so liberating” about the band.

But, where was Petty on the day that the incident happened? Inside his book, Conversations with Tom Petty, the singer recalled where he was and what he’s been doing at that time. Working with Jimmy Iovine, who’s a close friend of John’s, Petty was excited to see his idol walk through the recording since it was rumored that he’ll be singing a song from Ringo Starr’s album.“And Ringo [Starr] was working next door that week. The talk right around that time was that John was coming to sing on Ringo’s album. So, we were kind of jazzed up, thinking we were going to meet John,” the musician expressed.

A reach-out call for Petty occurred, telling them that John had been shot dead. “We just thought it was nonsense,” he recollected, “And then a call came right back in about 15 minutes that said that John’s dead”. The news about his death done just outside his New York home spread like wildfire, and just like the rest of the people who adored Lennon, Petty could not concentrate on finishing his recording.

However, Petty and the band gained the courage to pay respects to the late legend, and he decided to etched a short, but warm message to Lennon at the vinyl copy of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ Hard Promises. “We love you, J.L.,” that’s what’s written on the vinyl.