Goodbye Tom Petty

In another big loss to the music world, Tom Petty has passed on.  

While not a huge Petty fan, I'm not sure one could be a music fan and not appreciate what Petty accomplished.  Here are some things that really stood out for me on him:

• The longevity is his career is striking.  He came of age in the height of the FM movement (his classic Breakdown was featured in the FM movie soundtrack) and he maintained relevancy all the way through.
• He was a music fan.  A listen to his show on Sirius radio showed the depth of his knowledge and appreciation.  His musical tastes were pretty vast, and I actually picked up on some folks via listening to his show.
• I don't care what you say about the Travelling Willburys, but I flat loved them.  And what was not to love?  George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, and Tom Petty.  Name me another band that had sold more albums individually than these guys.  They were the epitome of a supergroup, and while their songs weren't deep, they were catchy as hell.
• His other collaborations were renown.  Stevie Nicks, Prince, Johnny Cash are some of the more obvious ones, but there are many others, including his side project with Mudcrutch:

Prince, Walter Becker, and now Petty.  I'm getting tired of writing these tribute pieces...