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This page is our attempt to document the touring history (and as many setlists as possible!) of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

Much (although not all) of this is taken from the Gigography previously hosted on Mudcrutch Farm, the Tour History previously hosted on Gone Gator, and various Wayback Machine archives of TomPetty.com.

If you have a setlist not yet posted here (or notice any mistakes in our existing ones), please contact us .

Entertainment

Watch the Final Moments of Tom Petty’s Last Ever Live Show

T om Petty had some final words for his audience in Los Angeles, California as he closed out the last concert of a world tour. “I wanna thank you for 40 years of a really great time,” he said. One week later the rock legend would be dead, after suffering cardiac arrest in the early morning of Oct. 2. He was 66.

On Sept 25, Petty and his band the Heartbreakers finished a three-night stint at the Hollywood Bowl as part of their 40th anniversary tour. YouTube user Kim Roberts caught footage of the band’s encore, the hit songs ‘You Wreck Me’ and ‘American Girl’.

“My tears are falling down as i write this as the news of Tom’s death from cardiac arrest is reported,” she wrote in the video’s description. “Unbelievable that one week to the day of this performance at the Hollywood Bowl, last day of the 40th anniversary tour, Tom would have left us.”

The footage shows an appreciative crowd whooping as the band finish their performance and then stick around to sign autographs. “God bless you! Goodnight!” said Petty just before walking off the stage.

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Tom Petty Was In Such Pain On Final Tour He Was Often Carried To The Stage

By Andrew Magnotta @AndrewMagnotta

October 22, 2020

Tom Petty 's death in the fall of 2017 of an accidental drug overdose was unexpected but preventable, says his longtime drummer Steve Ferrone .

Petty cracked his hip shortly before the tour and chose to play through the pain, rather than delay the trek indefinitely so he could undergo a hip replacement.

Despite the crippling injury and excruciating pain, Petty traveled all summer and played at least 53 concerts, aggravating his condition a little more each time he took the stage.

While Petty always gave his fans a great show, Ferrone tells Rolling Stone that the affair was much harder to watch backstage.

"He was taking OxyContin so he could get through the shows," Ferrone recalled. "He’d sort of time [the medication] so that it would kick in once he got up there. I’d say, ‘How are you doing? You ready for the show?’ He’d say, ‘Just get me up there and I’ll be okay.’ We’d get up there and it would do what it was supposed to do. It would kill the pain and he’d be able to perform. But once we’d done the done the bulk of the show and we’d come off and have something to drink backstage while everybody was going crazy, sometimes he’d be able to walk up there on his own. Other times he’d say, ‘I need you again.’ He’d put his arm around me and we’d hit those stairs together.”

The drummer wishes Petty hadn't done the tour at all.

"We should have canceled and done it another time," he said.

Within a week of the final show of the Heartbreakers' 40th anniversary tour, Petty was rushed to the hospital in full cardiac arrest, due to an accidental drug overdose.

His wife Dana and daughter Adria later revealed in a statement that Petty's hip was fully broken by the time he'd gotten home. They believe the pain had become so great that Tom overmedicated and died in what they deemed "an unfortunate accident."

Petty was one of more than 70,000 Americans to succumb to a drug overdose in 2017. According to the Centers for Disease Control , more than two-thirds of those deaths involved synthetic opioids.

The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner concluded that shortly before his death, Tom had taken painkillers Fentanyl and oxycodone; a sleep aid called Restoril; a depression med called Celexa and the anti-anxiety drug Xanax.

Now, three years later, Tom's estate has released his long-awaited Wildflowers & All The Rest box set, and The Heartbreakers are considering returning to the stage.

Ferrone says the band believes Tom will somehow communicate when the time is right for the Heartbreakers to get back together. It's been tumultuous since his death, but Ferrone is certain that the day will come.

"I'm still in touch with some of the fans," he said. "They are really, really nice people, good people. Tom loved his fans and his fans loved him. I don't think it would be fair for us not to do something."

Photo: Getty Images

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Revisiting Tom Petty’s Final Concert

On Sept. 25, Tom Petty took the stage at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles to bring to a close the legendary songwriter's 40th anniversary tour. One week later, he died peacefully in his sleep, surrounded by loved ones.

Back in December, Petty had told Rolling Stone that the tour could be his "last big one." "We're all on the backside of our sixties," he said. "I have a granddaughter now I'd like to see as much as I can. I don't want to spend my life on the road. This tour will take me away for four months. With a little kid, that's a lot of time."

The concert that capped off the tour was the third in the trio of sold-out dates at the Hollywood Bowl, which holds 17,500 people. Petty's set list for his final performance was stacked with a career-spanning trove of some of his best-loved songs, including his first entry into the Top 40, 1977's "Breakdown," 1994's Grammy-winning "You Don't Know It Feels," concert favorite " Free Fallin' " and more. The performance served, in retrospect, as a defining encapsulation of the trailblazer's unrivaled contributions to rock music and its lasting impact that crossed generations and genres.

Petty was accompanied onstage by three original members of the Heartbreakers: guitarist Mike Campbell, keyboardist Benmont Tench, and bassist Ron Blair.

You can watch footage from the performance below (as well as one song above), including the last two songs he ever played, and see the set list for Petty's final concert after that.

Tom Petty, 9/25/17, Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles, California "Rockin' Around (With You)" "Mary Jane's Last Dance" "You Don't Know How It Feels" "Forgotten Man" "I Won't Back Down" "Free Fallin'" "Breakdown" "Don't Come Around Here No More" "It's Good to Be King" "Crawling Back to You" "Wildflowers" "Learning to Fly" "Yer So Bad" "I Should Have Known It" "Refugee" "Runnin' Down a Dream "You Wreck Me" "American Girl"

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Tom Petty: Final Concert Tour Earned $61 Million

The GRAMMY winner's five-month 2017 trek traveled through 36 North American cities

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers wrapped an eventful 40th-anniversary tour with three momentous shows at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles in late September. Little did fans know at the time it would be the final opportunity to see the rock legend in concert, as days later Petty died on Oct. 2.

According to Billboard, Petty's Hollywood Bowl shows on Sept. 21, 22 and 25 were the highest-grossing dates on his blockbuster North American jaunt, selling 49,217 sold tickets and grossing $5.3 million. In all, the group's five-month tour through 36 North American cities grossed a robust sum of more than $61 million.

Designed to commemorate the GRAMMY-winning band's entire four-decade career, the tour netted approximately 638,000 fans to 44 headlining gigs throughout the United States and Canada.

In an interview with Rolling Stone prior to his death, Petty admitted that he was relishing the shows on the celebratory tour.

"I've really enjoyed being onstage so much, this tour," said Petty, who was honored as the 2017 MusiCares Person of the Year last February. "I don't know exactly why, but it's so much fun, you know? This is an extraordinary bunch of musicians. It's very rare. I don't think that's always been in the front of our minds, but lately, it feels that way." Ozzy Osbourne: Farewell World Tour To Launch In 2018

Photo: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic

GRAMMY Rewind: Kendrick Lamar Honors Hip-Hop's Greats While Accepting Best Rap Album GRAMMY For 'To Pimp a Butterfly' In 2016

Upon winning the GRAMMY for Best Rap Album for 'To Pimp a Butterfly,' Kendrick Lamar thanked those that helped him get to the stage, and the artists that blazed the trail for him.

Updated Friday Oct. 13, 2023 to include info about Kendrick Lamar's most recent GRAMMY wins, as of the 2023 GRAMMYs.

A GRAMMY veteran these days, Kendrick Lamar has won 17 GRAMMYs and has received 47 GRAMMY nominations overall. A sizable chunk of his trophies came from the 58th annual GRAMMY Awards in 2016, when he walked away with five — including his first-ever win in the Best Rap Album category.

This installment of GRAMMY Rewind turns back the clock to 2016, revisiting Lamar's acceptance speech upon winning Best Rap Album for To Pimp A Butterfly . Though Lamar was alone on stage, he made it clear that he wouldn't be at the top of his game without the help of a broad support system.

"First off, all glory to God, that's for sure," he said, kicking off a speech that went on to thank his parents, who he described as his "those who gave me the responsibility of knowing, of accepting the good with the bad."

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He also extended his love and gratitude to his fiancée, Whitney Alford, and shouted out his Top Dawg Entertainment labelmates. Lamar specifically praised Top Dawg's CEO, Anthony Tiffith, for finding and developing raw talent that might not otherwise get the chance to pursue their musical dreams.

"We'd never forget that: Taking these kids out of the projects, out of Compton, and putting them right here on this stage, to be the best that they can be," Lamar — a Compton native himself — continued, leading into an impassioned conclusion spotlighting some of the cornerstone rap albums that came before To Pimp a Butterfly .

"Hip-hop. Ice Cube . This is for hip-hop," he said. "This is for Snoop Dogg , Doggystyle . This is for Illmatic , this is for Nas . We will live forever. Believe that."

To Pimp a Butterfly singles "Alright" and "These Walls" earned Lamar three more GRAMMYs that night, the former winning Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Song and the latter taking Best Rap/Sung Collaboration (the song features Bilal , Anna Wise and Thundercat ). He also won Best Music Video for the remix of Taylor Swift 's "Bad Blood."

Lamar has since won Best Rap Album two more times, taking home the golden gramophone in 2018 for his blockbuster LP DAMN ., and in 2023 for his bold fifth album, Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers .

Watch Lamar's full acceptance speech above, and check back at GRAMMY.com every Friday for more GRAMMY Rewind episodes.

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Photo: Rebecca Sapp

5 Things We Learned From GRAMMY Museum's New The Power Of Song Exhibit, A Celebration Of Songwriters From Tom Petty To Taylor Swift

Nile Rodgers, Jimmy Jam, Smokey Robinson and more provide deep insights into their hit collaborations and creative process at GRAMMY Museum's The Power of Song: A Songwriters Hall of Fame Exhibit, open from April 26 through Sept. 4.

Since its founding in 1969, the Songwriters Hall of Fame has been celebrating the great songwriters and composers of our time. In 2010, it found a physical home at Downtown Los Angeles' GRAMMY Museum.

Now, the GRAMMY Museum is adding to that legacy with a special expanded exhibit , which dives deep into the history of songwriting and recorded music in the United States — as well as the Songwriters Hall of Fame and its inductees' role in it. Whether you're a songwriter or musician who loves the creative process, a history nerd, or simply a music lover, this exhibit is for you.

When you enter The Power Of Song, you'll hear the voices of legendary Songwriter Hall of Fame inductees and GRAMMY winners — including Nile Rodgers , Carole King , Diane Warren , Smokey Robinson and Jimmy Jam — discussing their creative process and some of the biggest songs they've written. Take a seat on the couch to absorb all their wisdom in the deeply informative and inspiring original short film.

Turn to the right, and you'll find a timeline across the entire wall, explaining the origins and key points around songwriting and recorded music in the U.S. On the other wall, pop on the headphones provided to enjoy a video of memorable Hall of Fame ceremony performances. One interactive video interface near the entrance allows you to hear "song highlights," and another allows you to explore the entire Songwriters Hall of Fame database.

The exhibit is filled with a treasure trove of handwritten song lyrics from Taylor Swift , Cyndi Lauper , Tom Petty and many more, as well as iconic artifacts, including Daft Punk 's helmets, a classy Nile Rodgers GRAMMY look, and guitars from Bill Withers , Tom Petty , John Mellencamp and Toby Keith .

Below, take a look at five things we learned from The Power Of Song: A Songwriters Hall Of Fame Exhibit, which will be at the GRAMMY Museum from April 26 through Sept. 4.

Daft Punk Rerecorded "Get Lucky" To Fit Nile Rodgers' Funky Guitar

Legendary funk pioneer and superproducer Nile Rodgers is the current Chairman of the SHOF and has an active presence at the exhibit. One case features the disco-esque lime green Dior tuxedo Rodgers wore to the 2023 GRAMMY Awards, along with the shiny metallic helmets of French dance duo Daft Punk, who collaborated with Rodgers on their GRAMMY-winning 2013 album, Random Access Memories .

Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo of Daft Punk and Rodgers had forged a friendship and been wanting to collab for years prior to 2013's Record Of The Year-winning smash "Get Lucky." When they finally connected and Bangalter and de Homem-Christo played the CHIC founder the demo for "Get Lucky," he asked to hear it again with everything muted except the drum track, so he could create the perfect guitar lick for it.

Bangalter and de Homem-Christo decided to essentially re-record the whole song to fit Rodgers' guitar, which joyously drives the track — and carried it to No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100, Daft Punk's first Top 5 hit.

***Photo:** Rebecca Sapp*

Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis Set Up Their Studio The "Wrong" Way Because Of Prince

In the exhibit film, Jimmy Jam tells several stories about working with — and learning from — Prince . He recalls how he and Terry Lewis watched Prince work and record everything "in the red," so they set up their Minneapolis studio to follow his lead. A sound engineer told them it was too loud, but that ended up being the sound that artists like Janet Jackson and Usher came to them for. It was a "happy mistake," as Jam put it, that helped their legendary careers as a powerhouse production duo take off.

Prince's dogmatic, tireless work ethic also rubbed off on the powerhouse pair. One rehearsal, the Purple One kept pressing Jam to do more, which resulted in him playing two instruments, singing and hitting the choreography from behind his keyboard. "He saw that I could do more than I thought I could; he saw me better than I saw myself," he reflected.

"God Bless America" Composer Irving Berlin Didn't Read Music

In his 50 year-career, Irving Berlin wrote over 1000 songs, many of which defined American popular music for the better part of the 20th century. Along with penning "God Bless America," "White Christmas," "Puttin' on the Ritz," and "There's No Business Like Show Business" (among many other classics), he wrote 17 full Broadway musical scores and contributed songs to six more plays.

Berlin also wrote scores for early Hollywood musicals starring the likes of Ginger Rodgers, Fred Astaire, Marilyn Monroe, and Bing Crosby. He made a lasting, indelible mark on music, theater, film and American culture writ large.

Rather astonishingly, the widely celebrated American Tin Pan Alley-era composer was self-taught and didn't read sheet music. His family immigrated to New York from Imperial Russia when he was 5 years old, and when he was just 13, his father died, so he busked on the streets and worked as a singing waiter to help his family out.

In 1907, at 19, he had his first song published, and just four years later penned his first international hit, "Alexander's Ragtime Band." Berlin had a natural musicality and played music by ear in the key of F-sharp, with the help of his trusted upright transposing piano, a rare instrument that had a mechanism allowing him to shift into different keys. His "trick piano," as he called it, where many of his unforgettable songs first came to life, is on display at the exhibit.

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Smokey Robinson Didn't Expect "My Girl" To Become A Timeless Hit

Smokey Robinson was an important part of Motown's hit-making factory as a singer, songwriter and producer. In the exhibit film, he discusses "My Girl," one of his classic tunes, which he wrote and produced for the Temptations in 1965.

"I had no idea it would become what it would become," he said.

He says that people often ask him why he didn't record the unforgettable song with his group the Miracles instead of "giving it away" to the Temptations, but he never regretted his decision. Instead, he's honored to have created music that stands the test of time and means so much to so many people.

Robinson joked that the Temptations' then-lead singer David Ruffin 's gruff voice scared girls into going out with him. Really, he loved Ruffin's voice, and thought he'd sound great singing a sweet love song like "My Girl." Safe to say he was right.

After World War II, Pop Music Changed Forever

Prior to World War II, American music operated as a singular mainstream market, and New York's Tin Pan Alley songwriters competed to make the next pop or Broadway hit. In a post-World War II America, especially when the early Baby Boomer generation became teenagers and young adults in the '60s and '70s, tastes changed and new styles of pop and pop songwriting emerged. As rock shook up popular culture, Tin Pan Alley gave way to a new era of young songwriters, many who worked out of just two buildings in midtown Manhattan, 1619 Broadway (the Brill Building) and 1650 Broadway.

In this richly creative and collaborative environment, powerhouse songwriting duos began to emerge and reshape pop music, challenging and balancing each other — and creating a ton of hits in the process. The hit-making duos of this diversified pop era included Burt Bacharach and Hal David ( Dionne Warrick 's "That's What Friends Are For"), Carole King and Gerry Goffin ( Little Eva 's "The Loco-Motion"), Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil ( the Righteous Brothers ' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'") and Jeff Barry and Ellie Greenwich ( the Ronettes ' "Be My Baby" and the Crystals' "Then He Kissed Me," both in collaboration with Phil Spector ). In fact, there are far too many classics penned by these four prolific songwriter duos to list here.

While there are still songwriters that pen big hit after hit for pop stars ( Max Martin is still at it, as is his protege Oscar Görres ), the dynamics in the industry have continued to shift with singers taking on more creative power themselves. Today's pop stars — including Ariana Grande , Dua Lipa and Taylor Swift — have found success co-writing with their own trusted teams of songwriters and producers. But as this new exhibit shows, it doesn't matter who is behind the pen — the power of song is mighty.

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Photo: Rachel Kupfer

A Guide To Modern Funk For The Dance Floor: L'Imperatrice, Shiro Schwarz, Franc Moody, Say She She & Moniquea

James Brown changed the sound of popular music when he found the power of the one and unleashed the funk with "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag." Today, funk lives on in many forms, including these exciting bands from across the world.

It's rare that a genre can be traced back to a single artist or group, but for funk, that was James Brown . The Godfather of Soul coined the phrase and style of playing known as "on the one," where the first downbeat is emphasized, instead of the typical second and fourth beats in pop, soul and other styles. As David Cheal eloquently explains, playing on the one "left space for phrases and riffs, often syncopated around the beat, creating an intricate, interlocking grid which could go on and on." You know a funky bassline when you hear it; its fat chords beg your body to get up and groove.

Brown's 1965 classic, "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag," became one of the first funk hits, and has been endlessly sampled and covered over the years, along with his other groovy tracks. Of course, many other funk acts followed in the '60s, and the genre thrived in the '70s and '80s as the disco craze came and went, and the originators of hip-hop and house music created new music from funk and disco's strong, flexible bones built for dancing.

Legendary funk bassist Bootsy Collins learned the power of the one from playing in Brown's band, and brought it to George Clinton , who created P-funk, an expansive, Afrofuturistic , psychedelic exploration of funk with his various bands and projects, including Parliament-Funkadelic . Both Collins and Clinton remain active and funkin', and have offered their timeless grooves to collabs with younger artists, including Kali Uchis , Silk Sonic , and Omar Apollo; and Kendrick Lamar , Flying Lotus , and Thundercat , respectively.

In the 1980s, electro-funk was born when artists like Afrika Bambaataa, Man Parrish, and Egyptian Lover began making futuristic beats with the Roland TR-808 drum machine — often with robotic vocals distorted through a talk box. A key distinguishing factor of electro-funk is a de-emphasis on vocals, with more phrases than choruses and verses. The sound influenced contemporaneous hip-hop, funk and electronica, along with acts around the globe, while current acts like Chromeo, DJ Stingray, and even Egyptian Lover himself keep electro-funk alive and well.

Today, funk lives in many places, with its heavy bass and syncopated grooves finding way into many nooks and crannies of music. There's nu-disco and boogie funk, nodding back to disco bands with soaring vocals and dance floor-designed instrumentation. G-funk continues to influence Los Angeles hip-hop, with innovative artists like Dam-Funk and Channel Tres bringing the funk and G-funk, into electro territory. Funk and disco-centered '70s revival is definitely having a moment, with acts like Ghost Funk Orchestra and Parcels , while its sparkly sprinklings can be heard in pop from Dua Lipa , Doja Cat , and, in full "Soul Train" character, Silk Sonic . There are also acts making dreamy, atmospheric music with a solid dose of funk, such as Khruangbin ’s global sonic collage.

There are many bands that play heavily with funk, creating lush grooves designed to get you moving. Read on for a taste of five current modern funk and nu-disco artists making band-led uptempo funk built for the dance floor. Be sure to press play on the Spotify playlist above, and check out GRAMMY.com's playlist on Apple Music , Amazon Music and Pandora .

Say She She

Aptly self-described as "discodelic soul," Brooklyn-based seven-piece Say She She make dreamy, operatic funk, led by singer-songwriters Nya Gazelle Brown, Piya Malik and Sabrina Mileo Cunningham. Their '70s girl group-inspired vocal harmonies echo, sooth and enchant as they cover poignant topics with feminist flair.

While they’ve been active in the New York scene for a few years, they’ve gained wider acclaim for the irresistible music they began releasing this year, including their debut album, Prism . Their 2022 debut single "Forget Me Not" is an ode to ground-breaking New York art collective Guerilla Girls, and " Norma " is their protest anthem in response to the news that Roe vs. Wade could be (and was) overturned. The band name is a nod to funk legend Nile Rodgers , from the "Le freak, c'est chi" exclamation in Chic's legendary tune "Le Freak."

Moniquea 's unique voice oozes confidence, yet invites you in to dance with her to the super funky boogie rhythms. The Pasadena, California artist was raised on funk music; her mom was in a cover band that would play classics like Aretha Franklin’ s "Get It Right" and Gladys Knight ’s "Love Overboard." Moniquea released her first boogie funk track at 20 and, in 2011, met local producer XL Middelton — a bonafide purveyor of funk. She's been a star artist on his MoFunk Records ever since, and they've collabed on countless tracks, channeling West Coast energy with a heavy dose of G-funk, sunny lyrics and upbeat, roller disco-ready rhythms.

Her latest release is an upbeat nod to classic West Coast funk, produced by Middleton, and follows her February 2022 groovy, collab-filled album, On Repeat .

Shiro Schwarz

Shiro Schwarz is a Mexico City-based duo, consisting of Pammela Rojas and Rafael Marfil, who helped establish a modern funk scene in the richly creative Mexican metropolis. On "Electrify" — originally released in 2016 on Fat Beats Records and reissued in 2021 by MoFunk — Shiro Schwarz's vocals playfully contrast each other, floating over an insistent, upbeat bassline and an '80s throwback electro-funk rhythm with synth flourishes.

Their music manages to be both nostalgic and futuristic — and impossible to sit still to. 2021 single "Be Kind" is sweet, mellow and groovy, perfect chic lounge funk. Shiro Schwarz’s latest track, the joyfully nostalgic "Hey DJ," is a collab with funkstress Saucy Lady and U-Key.

L'Impératrice

L'Impératrice (the empress in French) are a six-piece Parisian group serving an infectiously joyful blend of French pop, nu-disco, funk and psychedelia. Flore Benguigui's vocals are light and dreamy, yet commanding of your attention, while lyrics have a feminist touch.

During their energetic live sets, L'Impératrice members Charles de Boisseguin and Hagni Gwon (keys), David Gaugué (bass), Achille Trocellier (guitar), and Tom Daveau (drums) deliver extended instrumental jam sessions to expand and connect their music. Gaugué emphasizes the thick funky bass, and Benguigui jumps around the stage while sounding like an angel. L’Impératrice’s latest album, 2021’s Tako Tsubo , is a sunny, playful French disco journey.

Franc Moody

Franc Moody 's bio fittingly describes their music as "a soul funk and cosmic disco sound." The London outfit was birthed by friends Ned Franc and Jon Moody in the early 2010s, when they were living together and throwing parties in North London's warehouse scene. In 2017, the group grew to six members, including singer and multi-instrumentalist Amber-Simone.

Their music feels at home with other electro-pop bands like fellow Londoners Jungle and Aussie act Parcels. While much of it is upbeat and euphoric, Franc Moody also dips into the more chilled, dreamy realm, such as the vibey, sultry title track from their recently released Into the Ether .

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Living Legends: Billy Idol On Survival, Revival & Breaking Out Of The Cage

"One foot in the past and one foot into the future," Billy Idol says, describing his decade-spanning career in rock. "We’ve got the best of all possible worlds because that has been the modus operandi of Billy Idol."

Living Legends is a series that spotlights icons in music still going strong today. This week, GRAMMY.com spoke with Billy Idol about his latest EP, Cage , and continuing to rock through decades of changing tastes.

Billy Idol is a true rock 'n' roll survivor who has persevered through cultural shifts and personal struggles. While some may think of Idol solely for "Rebel Yell" and "White Wedding," the singer's musical influences span genres and many of his tunes are less turbo-charged than his '80s hits would belie.

Idol first made a splash in the latter half of the '70s with the British punk band Generation X. In the '80s, he went on to a solo career combining rock, pop, and punk into a distinct sound that transformed him and his musical partner, guitarist Steve Stevens, into icons. They have racked up multiple GRAMMY nominations, in addition to one gold, one double platinum, and four platinum albums thanks to hits like "Cradle Of Love," "Flesh For Fantasy," and "Eyes Without A Face."

But, unlike many legacy artists, Idol is anything but a relic. Billy continues to produce vital Idol music by collaborating with producers and songwriters — including Miley Cyrus — who share his forward-thinking vision. He will play a five-show Vegas residency in November, and filmmaker Jonas Akerlund is working on a documentary about Idol’s life.

His latest release is Cage , the second in a trilogy of annual four-song EPs. The title track is a classic Billy Idol banger expressing the desire to free himself from personal constraints and live a better life. Other tracks on Cage incorporate metallic riffing and funky R&B grooves.

Idol continues to reckon with his demons — they both grappled with addiction during the '80s — and the singer is open about those struggles on the record and the page. (Idol's 2014 memoir Dancing With Myself , details a 1990 motorcycle accident that nearly claimed a leg, and how becoming a father steered him to reject hard drugs. "Bitter Taste," from his last EP, The Roadside , reflects on surviving the accident.)

Although Idol and Stevens split in the late '80s — the skilled guitarist fronted Steve Stevens & The Atomic Playboys, and collaborated with Michael Jackson, Rick Ocasek, Vince Neil, and Harold Faltermeyer (on the GRAMMY-winning "Top Gun Anthem") — their common history and shared musical bond has been undeniable. The duo reunited in 2001 for an episode of " VH1 Storytellers " and have been back in the saddle for two decades. Their union remains one of the strongest collaborations in rock 'n roll history.

While there is recognizable personnel and a distinguishable sound throughout a lot of his work, Billy Idol has always pushed himself to try different things. Idol discusses his musical journey, his desire to constantly move forward, and the strong connection that he shares with Stevens.

Steve has said that you like to mix up a variety of styles, yet everyone assumes you're the "Rebel Yell"/"White Wedding" guy. But if they really listen to your catalog, it's vastly different.

Yeah, that's right. With someone like Steve Stevens, and then back in the day Keith Forsey producing... [Before that] Generation X actually did move around inside punk rock. We didn't stay doing just the Ramones two-minute music. We actually did a seven-minute song. [ Laughs ]. We did always mix things up.

Then when I got into my solo career, that was the fun of it. With someone like Steve, I knew what he could do. I could see whatever we needed to do, we could nail it. The world was my oyster musically.

"Cage" is a classic-sounding Billy Idol rocker, then "Running From The Ghost" is almost metal, like what the Devil's Playground album was like back in the mid-2000s. "Miss Nobody" comes out of nowhere with this pop/R&B flavor. What inspired that?

We really hadn't done anything like that since something like "Flesh For Fantasy" [which] had a bit of an R&B thing about it. Back in the early days of Billy Idol, "Hot In The City" and "Mony Mony" had girls [singing] on the backgrounds.

We always had a bit of R&B really, so it was actually fun to revisit that. We just hadn't done anything really quite like that for a long time. That was one of the reasons to work with someone like Sam Hollander [for the song "Rita Hayworth"] on The Roadside . We knew we could go [with him] into an R&B world, and he's a great songwriter and producer. That's the fun of music really, trying out these things and seeing if you can make them stick.

I listen to new music by veteran artists and debate that with some people. I'm sure you have those fans that want their nostalgia, and then there are some people who will embrace the newer stuff. Do you find it’s a challenge to reach people with new songs?

Obviously, what we're looking for is, how do we somehow have one foot in the past and one foot into the future? We’ve got the best of all possible worlds because that has been the modus operandi of Billy Idol.

You want to do things that are true to you, and you don't just want to try and do things that you're seeing there in the charts today. I think that we're achieving it with things like "Running From The Ghost" and "Cage" on this new EP. I think we’re managing to do both in a way.

** Obviously, "Running From The Ghost" is about addiction, all the stuff that you went through, and in "Cage" you’re talking about freeing yourself from a lot of personal shackles. Was there any one moment in your life that made you really thought I have to not let this weigh me down anymore ? **

I mean, things like the motorcycle accident I had, that was a bit of a wake up call way back. It was 32 years ago. But there were things like that, years ago, that gradually made me think about what I was doing with my life. I didn't want to ruin it, really. I didn't want to throw it away, and it made [me] be less cavalier.

I had to say to myself, about the drugs and stuff, that I've been there and I've done it. There’s no point in carrying on doing it. You couldn't get any higher. You didn't want to throw your life away casually, and I was close to doing that. It took me a bit of time, but then gradually I was able to get control of myself to a certain extent [with] drugs and everything. And I think Steve's done the same thing. We're on a similar path really, which has been great because we're in the same boat in terms of lyrics and stuff.

So a lot of things like that were wake up calls. Even having grandchildren and just watching my daughter enlarging her family and everything; it just makes you really positive about things and want to show a positive side to how you're feeling, about where you're going. We've lived with the demons so long, we've found a way to live with them. We found a way to be at peace with our demons, in a way. Maybe not completely, but certainly to where we’re enjoying what we do and excited about it.

[When writing] "Running From The Ghost" it was easy to go, what was the ghost for us? At one point, we were very drug addicted in the '80s. And Steve in particular is super sober [now]. I mean, I still vape pot and stuff. I don’t know how he’s doing it, but it’s incredible. All I want to be able to do is have a couple of glasses of wine at a restaurant or something. I can do that now.

I think working with people that are super talented, you just feel confident. That is a big reason why you open up and express yourself more because you feel comfortable with what's around you.

Did you watch Danny Boyle's recent Sex Pistols mini-series?

I did, yes.

You had a couple of cameos; well, an actor who portrayed you did. How did you react to it? How accurate do you think it was in portraying that particular time period?

I love Jonesy’s book, I thought his book was incredible. It's probably one of the best bio books really. It was incredible and so open. I was looking forward to that a lot.

It was as if [the show] kind of stayed with Steve [Jones’ memoir] about halfway through, and then departed from it. [John] Lydon, for instance, was never someone I ever saw acting out; he's more like that today. I never saw him do something like jump up in the room and run around going crazy. The only time I saw him ever do that was when they signed the recording deal with Virgin in front of Buckingham Palace. Whereas Sid Vicious was always acting out; he was always doing something in a horrible way or shouting at someone. I don't remember John being like that. I remember him being much more introverted.

But then I watched interviews with some of the actors about coming to grips with the parts they were playing. And they were saying, we knew punk rock happened but just didn't know any of the details. So I thought well, there you go . If ["Pistol" is] informing a lot of people who wouldn't know anything about punk rock, maybe that's what's good about it.

Maybe down the road John Lydon will get the chance to do John's version of the Pistols story. Maybe someone will go a lot deeper into it and it won't be so surface. But maybe you needed this just to get people back in the flow.

We had punk and metal over here in the States, but it feels like England it was legitimately more dangerous. British society was much more rigid.

It never went [as] mega in America. It went big in England. It exploded when the Pistols did that interview with [TV host Bill] Grundy, that lorry truck driver put his boot through his own TV, and all the national papers had "the filth and the fury" [headlines].

We went from being unknown to being known overnight. We waited a year, Generation X. We even told them [record labels] no for nine months to a year. Every record company wanted their own punk rock group. So it went really mega in England, and it affected the whole country – the style, the fashions, everything. I mean, the Ramones were massive in England. Devo had a No. 1 song [in England] with "Satisfaction" in '77. Actually, Devo was as big as or bigger than the Pistols.

You were ahead of the pop-punk thing that happened in the late '90s, and a lot of it became tongue-in-cheek by then. It didn't have the same sense of rebelliousness as the original movement. It was more pop.

It had become a style. There was a famous book in England called Revolt Into Style — and that's what had happened, a revolt that turned into style which then they were able to duplicate in their own way. Even recently, Billie Joe [Armstrong] did his own version of "Gimme Some Truth," the Lennon song we covered way back in 1977.

When we initially were making [punk] music, it hadn't become accepted yet. It was still dangerous and turned into a style that people were used to. We were still breaking barriers.

You have a band called Generation Sex with Steve Jones and Paul Cook. I assume you all have an easier time playing Pistols and Gen X songs together now and not worrying about getting spit on like back in the '70s?

Yeah, definitely. When I got to America I told the group I was putting it together, "No one spits at the audience."

We had five years of being spat on [in the UK], and it was revolting. And they spat at you if they liked you. If they didn't like it they smashed your gear up. One night, I remember I saw blood on my T-shirt, and I think Joe Strummer got meningitis when spit went in his mouth.

You had to go through a lot to become successful, it wasn't like you just kind of got up there and did a couple of gigs. I don't think some young rock bands really get that today.

With punk going so mega in England, we definitely got a leg up. We still had a lot of work to get where we got to, and rightly so because you find out that you need to do that. A lot of groups in the old days would be together three to five years before they ever made a record, and that time is really important. In a way, what was great about punk rock for me was it was very much a learning period. I really learned a lot [about] recording music and being in a group and even writing songs.

Then when I came to America, it was a flow, really. I also really started to know what I wanted Billy Idol to be. It took me a little bit, but I kind of knew what I wanted Billy Idol to be. And even that took a while to let it marinate.

You and Miley Cyrus have developed a good working relationship in the last several years. How do you think her fans have responded to you, and your fans have responded to her?

I think they're into it. It's more the record company that she had didn't really get "Night Crawling"— it was one of the best songs on Plastic Hearts , and I don't think they understood that. They wanted to go with Dua Lipa, they wanted to go with the modern, young acts, and I don't think they realized that that song was resonating with her fans. Which is a shame really because, with Andrew Watt producing, it's a hit song.

But at the same time, I enjoyed doing it. It came out really good and it's very Billy Idol. In fact, I think it’s more Billy Idol than Miley Cyrus. I think it shows you where Andrew Watt was. He was excited about doing a Billy Idol track. She's fun to work with. She’s a really great person and she works at her singing — I watched her rehearsing for the Super Bowl performance she gave. She rehearsed all Saturday morning, all Saturday afternoon, and Sunday morning and it was that afternoon. I have to admire her fortitude. She really cares.

I remember when you went on " Viva La Bam " back in 2005 and decided to give Bam Margera’s Lamborghini a new sunroof by taking a power saw to it. Did he own that car? Was that a rental?

I think it was his car.

Did he get over it later on?

He loved it. [ Laughs ] He’s got a wacky sense of humor. He’s fantastic, actually. I’m really sorry to see what he's been going through just lately. He's going through a lot, and I wish him the best. He's a fantastic person, and it's a shame that he's struggling so much with his addictions. I know what it's like. It's not easy.

Musically, what is the synergy like with you guys during the past 10 years, doing Kings and Queens of the Underground and this new stuff? What is your working relationship like now in this more sober, older, mature version of you two as opposed to what it was like back in the '80s?

In lots of ways it’s not so different because we always wrote the songs together, we always talked about what we're going to do together. It was just that we were getting high at the same time.We're just not getting [that way now] but we're doing all the same things.

We're still talking about things, still [planning] things:What are we going to do next? How are we going to find new people to work with? We want to find new producers. Let's be a little bit more timely about putting stuff out.That part of our relationship is the same, you know what I mean? That never got affected. We just happened to be overloading in the '80s.

The relationship’s… matured and it's carrying on being fruitful, and I think that's pretty amazing. Really, most people don't get to this place. Usually, they hate each other by now. [ Laughs ] We also give each other space. We're not stopping each other doing things outside of what we’re working on together. All of that enables us to carry on working together. I love and admire him. I respect him. He's been fantastic. I mean, just standing there on stage with him is always a treat. And he’s got an immensely great sense of humor. I think that's another reason why we can hang together after all this time because we've got the sense of humor to enable us to go forward.

There's a lot of fan reaction videos online, and I noticed a lot of younger women like "Rebel Yell" because, unlike a lot of other '80s alpha male rock tunes, you're talking about satisfying your lover.

It was about my girlfriend at the time, Perri Lister. It was about how great I thought she was, how much I was in love with her, and how great women are, how powerful they are.

It was a bit of a feminist anthem in a weird way. It was all about how relationships can free you and add a lot to your life. It was a cry of love, nothing to do with the Civil War or anything like that. Perri was a big part of my life, a big part of being Billy Idol. I wanted to write about it. I'm glad that's the effect.

Is there something you hope people get out of the songs you've been doing over the last 10 years? Do you find yourself putting out a message that keeps repeating?

Well, I suppose, if anything, is that you can come to terms with your life, you can keep a hold of it. You can work your dreams into reality in a way and, look, a million years later, still be enjoying it.

The only reason I'm singing about getting out of the cage is because I kicked out of the cage years ago. I joined Generation X when I said to my parents, "I'm leaving university, and I'm joining a punk rock group." And they didn't even know what a punk rock group was. Years ago, I’d write things for myself that put me on this path, so that maybe in 2022 I could sing something like "Cage" and be owning this territory and really having a good time. This is the life I wanted.

The original UK punk movement challenged societal norms. Despite all the craziness going on throughout the world, it seems like a lot of modern rock bands are afraid to do what you guys were doing. Do you think we'll see a shift in that?

Yeah. Art usually reacts to things, so I would think eventually there will be a massive reaction to the pop music that’s taken over — the middle of the road music, and then this kind of right wing politics. There will be a massive reaction if there's not already one. I don’t know where it will come from exactly. You never know who's gonna do [it].

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Tom Petty’s Final Concert: Watch Him Close With ‘You Wreck Me’ & ‘American Girl’

Rest in peace, Tom Petty. Here, watch him close out his final concert with the Heartbreakers, playing 'American Girl' Sept. 25 at the Hollywood Bowl.

By Chris Payne

Chris Payne

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Rest in peace, Tom Petty .

The rock ‘n’ roll legend was a touring powerhouse and he spent his life doing what he loved, right up until the end. Along with the Heartbreakers, Petty spent most of 2017 on the road, touring behind the band’s 40th anniversary. Just one week ago, on Sept. 25, he wrapped up the trek in what will go down as his last show.

It came as the third and final show of a mini-residency at the Hollywood Bowl. Petty and the Heartbreakers played a 16-song set, followed by a two-song encore: “You Wreck Me,” off his ’94 solo album Wildflowers , and, as he so often closed with, “American Girl.” “I wanna thank you for 40 years of a really great time,” said Petty, right before diving into the opening guitar lines.

See latest videos, charts and news

Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers

Tom petty, rock 'n' roll legend, dies at 66.

Thanks to YouTube user Kim Roberts, here’s a close-up look at the last two songs from Petty’s last concert. After jamming out and extending the “American Girl” outro, you can watch the whole band stick around for a few extra minutes, acknowledging the crowd and taking in the applause. Petty even stops to sign a few autographs.

“American Girl,” like so many others from the Petty catalogue, is going to live on for a long, long time.

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Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers’ Final Concert

Tom Petty, during his final concert, Hollywood Bowl, September 25, 2017

We didn’t know that he soldiered on throughout the big 2017 tour with a fractured hip. Yet each night, he and his amazing band gave arena and stadium audiences their money’s worth. And then some.

They had played 56 concerts, including nine festival dates, spanning just three countries. It all started in Oklahoma City on April 20. When Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers ‘ 40th anniversary tour ended on September 25, 2017, with a concert at the Hollywood Bowl, it was time to take a break.

And then exactly one week later, on October 2, came the shocking news. Tom Petty had been found unconscious at his Los Angeles home. Doctors couldn’t revive him. He was pronounced dead that evening from an accidental overdose of pain medications that he had taken to ease the pain of his hip and other ailments.

Each night on the 40th anniversary tour, the Heartbreakers delivered a two-hour set of 18 or 19 songs from their outstanding classic rock catalog. And that September 25 performance, their third that week at the Hollywood Bowl, brought them home after months on the road.

“She grew up in an Indiana town…” Watch the band perform the evening’s second number

“Thank you sooo much,” he said, three nights earlier at the second-to-last concert. “Thank you so much for coming out to the Hollywood Bowl tonight. We’re really excited to be back home and be playing for our local fans. I know the word’s probably gotten around but if you don’t know, we’re celebrating our 40th anniversary with this crew.

“We’re just gonna throw a bunch of records up in the air and see where they fall tonight. We’re gonna feel whatever we feel like playing.”

In introducing the evening’s fifth song, Petty dedicated the song to longtime radio and record label exec Jon Scott. “Six weeks before our first record was dropped by ABC Records, he went to the radio stations with a vengeance and brought that sucker onto the charts. We are forever grateful; we’re gonna dedicate this to him tonight.”

Related: Our interview with Jon Scott

Watch the evening’s eighth song, 1991’s “Don’t Come Around Here No More,” one of his biggest singles. His live performance of it always closes with a mind-blowing ending

“How about a big round of applause for the Heartbreakers? These guys have been such a big part of my life… ” said Petty halfway through the concert. He then introduced the backup singers the Webb sisters , (“the one and only”) Scott Thurston , (“a wonderful person and the finest drummer I’ve ever met or played with”) Steve Ferrone , (“if you’re gonna have a great rock ‘n’ roll band, you’ve got to have an even better bass player”) Ron Blair , (“the greatest rock keyboard man in the world”) Benmont Tench III and (“I have no idea who you are but I hope you’re in my band forever”) Mike Campbell .

Watch Petty’s heartfelt (and often humorous) band introductions

Watch the final song of the main set

“I want to thank all of you for coming out tonight,” said Petty before the evening’s second of two encores. “We love you dearly. I want to thank you for 40 years of a really great time.” And then: “We’re almost out of time. We’ve got time for this one,” as the familiar first guitar chords of “American Girl” began.

Watch the evening’s final song, fittingly, “American Girl”

Related: “American Girl” – A perfect rock song

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, September 25, 2017, Hollywood Bowl Setlist

Rockin’ Around (With You) Mary Jane’s Last Dance You Don’t Know How it Feels Forgotten Man I Won’t Back Down Free Fallin’ Breakdown Don’t Come Around Here No More It’s Good to Be King Crawling Back to You Wildflowers Learning to Fly Yer So Bad I Should Have Known It Refugee Runnin’ Down a Dream

Encore You Wreck Me American Girl

“I want to thank you for 40 years of a really great time”

No, Tom. Thank you .

Related: Our review of the 40th anniversary tour’s June 16, 2017 performance at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ

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5 Comments so far

I persònally met Marty Balin along with Phil Lesh (Grateful Dead ) with Greg Irons (Yellow. Dogs comix) while staying with Greg Irons in San Francisco in 69.We all went out to a Chinese restaurant and all three of those guys were really cool. Being from Philly they all asked me about the mayor Frank Rizzo (Ratso.Rizzo) who was a former Philly Police Còmmisioner & well known at the time .We all took mescaline before the food was served and Marty sang “White Rabbit ” out loud as we all got off on the Mescaline.Marty was funny , loud and hysterical company.R.I.P. good hearted man .

Any chance of the final Hollywood Bowl concert being released as a tribute to Tom & the Heartbreakers legacy? Perhaps with additional footage from every stop in the tour for regional sales? Doesn’t hurt to ask! Thank you.

You can go on the PBS store website and buy the 30th anniversary show in Gainesville, Fl. (Tom’s hometown) on DVD. It is not sold anywhere else. It is his best DVD by a lot. Great sound, great video, wild crowd. Stevie Nicks sings a couple of songs with Tom. I have three Petty DVD’s that is by far the best.

Saw Tom Petty and Heartbreakers as openers for J. Geils Band (back when the bad boys from Boston were bad asses) in 1977. Both bands were phenomenal then, and thoughout their careers, and I still play both bands albums regularly, to this day.

Was fortunate enough to have seen TP and the Heartbreakers once in my home town of Glasgow and also when they played the Concert for George in London’s Royal Albert Hall. I have two experiences I will never forget. TP and his music will forever be with me.

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Setlist History: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' Last Show

General News
Setlist History
Last updated: 26 Sep 2018, 7:53:07
Published: 25 Sep 2018, 17:52:50
Written by: Hannah Cotter
Photography by: Gary Miller
Categories: General News Setlist History Tagged: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Tom Petty Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers at Hollywood Bowl

Tom Petty's tragic death last year shocked the world not only because it was so sudden, but also because exactly a week beforehand on September 25, 2017, he was wrapping an extensive tour with the Heartbreakers at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. They didn't know it then, but it would be the final time they played together.

The six month, 53-show tour was in celebration of the band's 40th anniversary– a remarkable feat, considering their frontman bounced around pretty frequently. Petty decided to make a solo album in 1989 ( Full Moon Fever) and toured with Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne and Roy Orbison as the Traveling Willburys the year prior. Still, the Heartbreakers kept in tact and have since become one of the most successful and longest-running bands in American history.

This last run was the group's longest time on the road since 2002. Petty had planned it to be his "last trip around the country," but he had no intentions of retiring .

Petty and the Heartbreakers were playing rare, deep cuts from their earliest albums at the Hollywood Bowl, kicking off the show with "Rockin' Around (With You)" before delving into various Wildflower cuts.

The band played a mixture of classics like "Mary Jane's Last Dance," "I Won't Back Down" and "Free Fallin,'" and closed the set with an encore of "You Wreck Me" and "American Girl."

When asked why the Heartbreakers stayed together for so long, guitarist Mike Campbell said:

"Everybody always asks me that: 'Why are you still together?' Campbell said. "It's really pretty simple: We really love each other and we love the music we make together—more than the music we make with other people. It's got a brotherhood in it, decades of bonding."

The band reunited for the first time after Petty's death at a charity event in Los Angeles on April 21, 2018, with Stephen Stills and Patti Smith switching off on vocals.

Here's a clip of Stills covering Petty's "I Won't Back Down."

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American Girl ( 823 )
Refugee ( 768 )
I Won't Back Down ( 648 )
Runnin' Down a Dream ( 648 )
Free Fallin' ( 617 )

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Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Watch Tom Petty’s Final Performance at the Hollywood Bowl

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers performed at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on Sept. 25, the last stop on the band’s 40 th anniversary tour. That show was frontman Petty’s final performance before his death just a week later following a cardiac arrest . A fan-shot video from the band’s last performance at the Hollywood Bowl shows Petty singing what is quite possibly his most famous song, “Free Fallin’,” for the last time in concert.

Another video from the same fan shows Petty and the band closing the set with “You Wreck Me” and the song that ended every stop on the band’s tour: “American Girl.”

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Inside Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ Last Big Tour

Behind the scenes as petty and his band battle the elements, remember old times and celebrate a 40-year bond..

It’s about an hour before Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers play Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre for what may be the last time. Backstage, Petty is in his dressing room putting on a frontier rebel’s headdress to fight the chill. Keyboardist Benmont Tench is tweeting about the sad state of our country under Donald Trump. Bassist Ron Blair has battled stage fright for years since rejoining the Heartbreakers in 2002, after a 20-year sanity break. He wanders into Petty and cops to something you’re not likely to admit to your bandleader unless you’ve known him for 40 years. “I’m kinda nervous, you know,” says Blair in a quiet voice.

Petty rarely describes himself as the leader of his band, but as “the older brother they sometimes have to listen to.” Tonight, he gives Blair some fatherly assurance and a toothy Southern smile: “Let me be nervous for you.”

The band takes the stage and blows through “Rockin’ Around (With You),” the first song on its self-titled first album, from 1976. Petty ends the next few songs strumming in front of the drum set, trading man-crush smiles with drummer Steve Ferrone (Tench jokes, “They should get a room”). Petty even grins through a joyous version of “Walls,” from 1996’s She’s the One , an album he’s complained about for nearly 20 years.

And then there’s a flash of lightning. Rain pours down. The Heartbreakers are shooed into the catacombs of Red Rocks, and 9,000 fans head for cover.

There’s been a valedictory feel to the Heartbreakers’ 40th-anniversary tour, which Petty says is the band’s final country-spanning run – the “last big one.” Everyone else is a bit skeptical. “I’ve been hearing that for 15 years,” says guitarist and original Heartbreaker Mike Campbell. “We’ll see.”

The crowds are still there, something Petty is clearly proud of when we sit down in a hotel room on an off day. To be honest, he looks more jittery offstage than on. This may be because he is chain-smoking, alternating between Marlboros and vaping, perhaps as a concession to the Denver Ritz-Carlton’s smoking policy.

The band now travels like pashas: playing shows in weeklong bursts, flying privately to the gig and then returning every night to a hub city like Denver. Backstage is no longer the den of iniquity it used to be, no longer full of starlets, hangers-on and good drugs. Petty says sleep is now his friend. “I need a new Netflix show, does anyone have any suggestions?” he asks just before his assistant ducks out of the room. Someone suggests Bloodline , a noirish series set in his native Florida.

Petty is defiant about the hyper pace of the tour, which hits 30 cities this spring and summer. “Unless you’ve done it, you can’t understand what it is,” says Petty, brushing his scarecrow hair out of his face. “And if you’re not really experienced, you will fall.”

What keeps the Heartbreakers together is simple: The band has been their life since 1976. (How close are they? Multi-instrumentalist Scott Thurston recently sold his house to Campbell.) That’s when Petty met Campbell – then painfully shy – at a friend’s house in Gainesville, Florida. Petty would be in the front room, and the bedroom would be dark except for the pilot light from a Fender amp. “I felt like I had to go down a dark tunnel and coax him out,” says Petty.

He soon met Benjamin Montmorency Tench III, a prep-school kid and piano prodigy. Tench wears suits and went to Exeter, but he’s the fiery one. In a Peter Bogdanovich documentary on the Heartbreakers, 2007’s Runnin’ Down a Dream , Tench can be heard screaming at his bandmates to take things seriously. His nickname is Mad Dog. When Tench used to go on one of his tirades, a roadie would slide a dog bowl of water under his piano.

Petty, Campbell and  Tench formed the nucleus of Mudcrutch, which morphed into the  Heartbreakers in 1976,  after adding San Diegan Blair on bass and  Stan Lynch on drums.  Blair fried out and  bailed in 1982. He opened a bikini shop in the Valley and was replaced by Howie Epstein, but the band loomed in his subconscious. “I’d dream I’d be walking to the stage, and be like, ‘I don’t know “Mary Jane’s Last Dance,”‘ ” remembers Blair. “I had half a dozen of those nightmares, so I started learning those songs so I could get a night’s sleep.”

This proved fortuitous when Epstein died of heroin-related complications in 2003. “I don’t think the band continues without Ron,” Tench tells me. “Bringing in someone new wouldn’t have worked.”

You can argue that Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are the most successful and longest-running American rock band in history, the Beach Boys be damned. Tench, Campbell and Petty attribute the group’s longevity to two epochal moments: one logistical and one creative.

“About 20 years ago, we stopped doing soundchecks,” says Petty. “It eats up the whole day and we’d argue, and then you’d come back and the sound would be completely different with a crowd.”

The other game-changer was Bob Dylan. By 1986, the band had toured relentlessly for a decade. Off the road, everyone was a mess – some members dealing with substance issues, some just dealing with real life. “The road and the studio are the only places I’ve ever felt completely OK,” says Petty, lighting another Marlboro. “In any other life situation I’m terribly retarded.” Petty got a call from Dylan asking if the band would back him on a tour. Petty raced out a “hell, yes.” Watching footage, you can see him smiling his head off, ecstatic to not be leading the show. The experience taught him how to be in the Heartbreakers, not just lead them. “That’s when we learned how to really be a band,” says Petty.

As the bandmates wait out the rain, Petty asks if they want to add their 1999 song “Swingin'” to the second half of the set. Everyone agrees: They do. The Heartbreakers aren’t a democracy, but more of a benevolent dictatorship. This is true when it comes to the set list. “We can make suggestions,” says Tench with a wry smile. “Sometimes they’re even accepted.”

After 20 minutes, the Heartbreakers retake the stage. They play “Swingin’,” which has a chorus where Petty lists icons who “went down swinging,” including Sonny Liston and Sammy Davis. Tench, who sings with Petty on the song, switches it up. Epstein provided the beautiful high harmonies on the record, so Tench sneaks in a tribute to his departed friend: “He went down swingin’/Just like Howie Epstein.” When I mention Epstein to Campbell later, he starts to cry.

Petty is supposed to do some acoustic numbers from Wildflowers , his 1994 solo album. There’s just one problem: His guitar is dead, soaked by the rain. There’s confusion and uncertainty on the bandmates’ faces for a moment, like it’s a 1975 show at a honky-tonk in Gainesville. Then Petty and Campbell shout across the stage, “Ben, play something!”

Tench, the best keyboardist in American rock, breaks into a pastiche of boogie-woogie, a homage to pianist Pete Johnson. The group chimes in, not quite in sync, until Petty switches to Chuck Berry’s “Carol.” The Heartbreakers fall in line, sounding like the best bar band you don’t want to tell your friends about because it’ll get too big and leave your favourite saloon.

“It’s still a wild pace. I might be away for two years, but I’ve worked myself to death on different projects.”

They encore with “American Girl.” The bandmates take a bow, wiping sweat and rain off their faces. Everyone exits, but Petty seems reluctant to leave. He takes a few steps toward the front of the stage and gives a last wave.

One word Petty and the band never mention: retirement. Petty still goes into his Malibu home office to write songs – right across from his home studio. He’s mostly a homebody, rarely even venturing the 45 minutes into Los Angeles unless it’s to see his two daughters and his young granddaughter. There was a Mudcrutch tour last year and a turn producing a record for former Byrds bassist Chris Hillman. The Heartbreakers will record again and play live in some capacity. “It’s still a wild pace,” says Petty. “I might be away for two years, but I’ve worked myself to death on different projects, you know?”

After 40 years, it would be surprising if there weren’t a few regrets. “Howie should’ve gotten some lead on a record,” Tench says of Epstein. “He should’ve produced a record for the Heartbreakers. I would’ve loved that.” Then he shrugs. “But I’m not in charge.”

Petty often thinks about songs that should have been left out on the street, like the closing track on Full Moon Fever . “I hate ‘Zombie Zoo,’ ” he says with a shake of his head. “I do not understand how that got on the record. I had better stuff. What frame of mind produced that? That was nearly a perfect album.”

But that’s on the dark side of town. Petty also mentions the stories of fans telling him how they walked down the aisle to “Here Comes My Girl” or got strength from “I Won’t Back Down.” He remembers a recent encounter in L.A. with a young fan. She mentioned that she got solace from the band’s 1999 album, Echo . She knew that it was one of Petty’s stepchildren – an opportunity Petty feels he squandered while he was out of his head from his divorce, and Epstein was slipping away into heroin abuse. Petty signed the woman’s copy of the record, then thought about the encounter when he got back home to Malibu.

“Well, see?” says Petty with a shrug of wonder. “Things can work even when you don’t realise it.” He pauses for a moment. “You know?”

Campbell and Tench use words like “miracle” and “magic” to explain how the Heartbreakers still crank out a show every bit as good as they did in 1985. Campbell describes moments when the band is working in sync, and he feels almost like he’s watching from above.

“I’ll be looking at this going, ‘Wow. How did I get here? How lucky am I?'” says Campbell with wonderment.

He rubs his eyes and then smiles.

“Then I’ll come back and be like, ‘OK, I’ve gotta work.’ “

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Remembering Tom Petty’s Final Minnesota Concert – June 3, 2017 In St. Paul

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The music world lost one of its defining voices on Monday (October 2) when Tom Petty passed away at the age of 66. With a career that spanned more than 40 years, Petty took the torch of 3-chord rock-n-roll, added his own bluesy elements, and helped the format evolve. Even as he was considered a traditional rock act, his influence on grunge was hard to ignore.

Over the years, Petty played Minnesota numerous times. His most-recent concert wasn't all that long ago; Tom played the Xcel Energy Center in June - during his 40th Anniversary Tour.

A quick look at the set list that night provides some insight into what made Tom Petty a fan favorite. While he could be excused with simply doing a "hits" show, the set list from June's St. Paul show demonstrates that he was still shaking things up with some deeper cuts and newer songs.

Below is a video of that show. Enjoy.

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Joe Walsh, Blake Shelton Cover Tom Petty’s ‘I Won’t Back Down’

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Tom petty’s final concert: watch him close with “you wreck me” and “american girl”.

The performance came as the third and final show of a mini-residency at L.A.'s famed Hollywood Bowl.

By Chris Payne, Billboard

Chris Payne, Billboard

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Rest in peace, Tom Petty .

The iconic singer-songwriter died at age 66 after suffering cardiac arrest. He was found unconscious at his home in Malibu in the early hours of Monday morning and passed away later that night after being taken to UCLA Medical Center, according to Petty’s manager .

The rock ‘n’ roll legend was a touring powerhouse and he spent his life doing what he loved, right up until the end. Along with the Heartbreakers, Petty spent most of 2017 on the road, touring behind the band’s 40th anniversary. Just one week ago, Sept. 25, he wrapped up the trek in what will go down as his last show.

Thanks to YouTube user Kim Roberts, here’s a close-up look at the last two songs from Petty’s last concert. After jamming out and extending the “American Girl” outro , the whole band sticks around for a few extra minutes, acknowledging the crowd and taking in the applause. Petty even stops to sign a few autographs.

“American Girl,” like so many others from the Petty catalogue, is going to live on for a long, long time.

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Tom Petty's final Michigan show: The setlist and video of his last song

Published: Oct. 04, 2017, 4:36 p.m.
Edward Pevos | [email protected]

Story by Edward Pevos of MLive - [email protected]

Tom Petty died just a week after the final concert on his 40th anniversary tour with the Heartbreakers. His last concert in Michigan was on this tour on July 18, 2017 at DTE Energy Music Theatre.

Here is the full setlist followed by video of his the last song from the show. As he thanked the Detroit area crowd, no one knew it would be the final time he'd perform here.

Photo of Petty at DTE on 9/18/17 by Edward Pevos of MLive

Song #1: "Rockin' Around (With You)"

Petty told the crowd they were starting from the very beginning. This song is track #1 off of the band's very first album released in 1976, "Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers."

Song #2: "Mary Jane's Last Dance"

This song is from the 1993 "Greatest Hits" album. It reached #14 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Petty's first Billboard top 20 hit of the 90s.

Song #3: "You Don't Know How It Feels"

The lead single from 1994's "Wildflowers," this song reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Song #4: "Forgotten Man"

This song is from the band's last album, 2014's "Hypnotic Eye." So, just four songs into their DTE concert and the band performed songs spanning nearly 40 years.

Song #5: "I Won't Back Down,"

This was the first song released from Petty's first solo album, "Full Moon Fever," released in 1989. The song reached #12.

Song #6: "Free Fallin'"

This is the opening track from Petty's first solo album. It reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Song #7: "Walls"

This song was released in July 1996 as the first single from the band's soundtrack album Songs and Music from "She's the One." The song features Fleetwood Mac's Lindsey Buckingham on background vocals.

Song #8: "Don't Come Around Here No More"

This song was released in February 1985 as the lead single from the band's "Southern Accents" album. It reached #13 on Billboard.

Song #9: "It's Good to Be King"

This song was track #5 from the 1994 "Wildflowers" album. It was never released as a single.

Song #10: "Crawling Back to You"

Song #14 from "Wildflowers."

Song #11: "Wildflowers"

The first track from "Wildflowers." The album was Petty's second as a solo artist.

Song #12: "Learning to Fly"

This song was released in 1991 from the band's eighth studio album "Into the Great Wide Open." It reached #28 on Billboard.

Song #13: "Yer So Bad"

This was the fifth single off of Petty's first solo album, "Full Moon Fever," released in 1989.

Song #14: "I Should Have Known It"

The third single off the band's 12th studio album from 2010, "Mojo."

Song #15: "Refugee"

This song was released in January 1980 as the second single from the band's album "Damn the Torpedoes." It reached #15 on Billboard.

Encore song #1: "You Wreck Me"

This is the fourth track from the "Wildflowers" album.

Encore song #2: "American Girl" (the final song)

This was the second single from the band's self-titled debut album in 1977. It did not chart in the U.S. until it was re-released in 1994. The song was ranked 76th on the list of "The 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time" by Rolling Stone.

Petty quote before his final song in Michigan

"I don't know when I'll get a chance, so I'm just going to do it now. I'm gonna thank you so much for coming to these shows for 40 years. It touches my heart. Thank you very much."

Picture of the huge sellout crowd at his final Michigan concert

Photo at DTE from 7/18/17 by Edward Pevos of MLive

VIDEO: Petty's final concert song in Michigan - "American Girl" at DTE on 7/18/17

Another video from Petty's final concert in Michigan

Official tour merchandise from the final Michigan concert

Photo from DTE on 7/18/17 by Edward Pevos of MLive

The music world reacts to Petty's death

Photo by Owen Sweeney/Invision/AP

CLICK HERE to see what musicians from around the world had to say as they payed tribute to Petty.

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Steve Earle Offers Homage to Tom Petty, Delivers “Yer So Bad” Cover

Steve Earle’s contributions to the highly-anticipated tribute album Petty Country: A Country Music Celebration of Tom Petty , due on June 21 via Big Machine Records, have dropped. “Yer So Bad” finds Earle expanding the original format of the Petty rocker with a bluegrass-tinged effect that still lives in the country/rock realm.

Earle’s contributions debuted yesterday via Tom Petty Radio on Sirius XM, ahead of his arrival on the show next Friday, May 17. On the show, he will join revered music journalist David Fricke. During the broadcast appearance, the pair will discuss the tribute album and Earle’s polished cover.

Notably, “Yer So Bad” was released in 1990 as the fifth single off Petty’s debut solo album, Full Moon Fever , peaking at No. 5 on the U.S. Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart. The song is a prime example of Petty’s ability to tell stories through music, a distinctive skill that has significantly influenced the country music genre, and is now being redelivered by Earle, further emphasizing the impact of Petty’s work.

“Yer So Bad” represents the latest preview of Petty Country: A Country Music Celebration of Tom Petty, following Chris Stapleton’s “I Should Have Known It,” Dolly Parton’s “Southern Accents” and Dierks Bentley’s “American Girl.” Curated by close friends and collaborators, the set leans into the country and American sphere, with a presentation of 20 songs that pull the artist’s southern roots and Gainesville, Fla. experience into the mix as a reflective piece of recognition and respect for one of rock-and-roll’s greatest acts.

Listen to “Yer So Bad” below. Pre-order Petty Country now.

Petty Country T racklist

1. “I Should Have Known It” by Chris Stapleton

2. “Wildflowers” by Thomas Rhett

3. “Runnin’ Down A Dream” by Luke Combs

4. “Southern Accents” by Dolly Parton

5. “Here Comes My Girl” by Justin Moore

6. “American Girl” by Dierks Bentley

7. “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” by Lady A

8. “I Forgive It All” by Jamey Johnson

9. “I Won’t Back Down” by Brothers Osborne

10. “Refugee” by Wynonna Judd & Lainey Wilson

11. “Angel Dream No. 2” by Willie Nelson & Lukas Nelson

12. “Learning To Fly” by Eli Young Band

13. “Breakdown” by Ryan Hurd feat. Carly Pearce

14. “Yer So Bad” by Steve Earle

15. “Ways To Be Wicked” by Margo Price feat. Mike Campbell

16. “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” by Midland

17. “Free Fallin’” by The Cadillac Three feat. Breland

18. “I Need To Know” by Marty Stuart And His Fabulous Superlatives

19. “Don’t Come Around Here No More” by Rhiannon Giddens feat. Silkroad Ensemble and Benmont Tench

20. “You Wreck Me (Live)” by George Strait

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Tom Petty Tribute Shows? Mike Campbell Has ‘Mixed Feelings’

By Andy Greene

Andy Greene

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers will celebrate their 50th anniversary in 2026, and there’s already talk of a tribute show to mark the occasion. But Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell isn’t sure he wants to do it.

“The management said that if we did it, we’d get the original band back together, have some guest singers, and maybe just do a couple of shows,” Campbell tells Rolling Stone . “But then I always throw my hands up and go, ‘I can’t think about that. I’m not ready to go back and do that.’ And I don’t want to do anything to dishonor the legacy. I’m not sure how that would feel to me, to have a bunch of people singing Tom’s parts. I’m open, but I’m not overly enthralled with the idea.”

Campbell has spent the past few years touring and recording with his band the Dirty Knobs. Their live show is heavy on their original tunes, though they always sprinkle in a handful of Petty classics like “You Wreck Me” and “Runnin’ Down a Dream.” They broke out far more Oct. 20, 2023, when they played a gig at the Bellwether in Los Angeles. It happened to be Petty’s birthday, and they celebrated him with a 10-song encore of his music. “We wanted to honor Tom and my old band,” says Campbell. “And it was emotional, it was beautiful. It was like a real high point of my life, one of my favorite gigs ever.”

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Another flashback to his past came Sept. 23, 2023, when Campbell backed Bob Dylan at Farm Aid alongside the Dirty Knobs and Benmont Tench. They took the stage near the end of the night and tore through “Maggie’s Farm,” “Positively 4th Street,” and “Ballad of a Thin Man” without a word of introduction. (Petty and the Heartbreakers played behind Dylan on a mid-1980s tour.)

“That was pure Bob,” says Campbell. “I got the call that said, ‘Bob wants you to put a little band together to do Farm Aid,’ ” says Campbell. “So I used my band, and Benmont came up and played with us. And it was a flashback because we went around the world with Bob [in 1986 and 1987], and there we were again onstage. In fact, the first gig we ever played was the first Farm Aid ever, with Bob. And then there we were at Farm Aid again. It was spontaneous and exciting and a joy. He’s just always fun to be around.”

The three-song set marked the first time Dylan played guitar (not to mention “Maggie’s Farm” and “Positively 4th Street”) in quite some time. Might something like that happen again? “It’s up to Bob,” Campbell says. “I mean, he’s pretty busy. If he gives me a call, I’d certainly take it. But there’s no specific plans now.”

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Whatever happens going forward, Campbell’s focus remains the Dirty Knobs, who will release the new album Vagabonds, Virgins & Misfits on June 14. “There’s so much processed music now,” he says. “But we’re old-school. I like to hear guys breathing together when they play live. That’s what the Dirty Knobs are all about.”

They’ve had the chance to open up for the Who and Chris Stapleton at arena and stadium gigs over the past few years. “Those kind of things just pop out of the blue,” Campbell says. “That’s what my life is like, things just fall on my lap. Bob Dylan, Fleetwood Mac, the Who … I get a call and say, ‘Hey, this came up, what do you think?’ I don’t go looking for that stuff, but it seems to find me.”

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Scottie Scheffler’s secret: How a ‘venomous’ trash talker became the best golfer in the world

Follow live coverage of the final round of the 2024 PGA Championship today

It’s a week after he won the Masters, and Scottie Scheffler is hanging out at his local Royal Oaks Country Club in Dallas, making it abundantly clear that he can beat a bunch of middle-aged men’s asses in pickleball.

He’s with his normal crew, a group of 45-to-65-year-old insurance salesmen and finance guys in Dallas he has been playing money games with for years. They just finished a wolf hammer match on this Friday and are hanging out with adult beverages. And suddenly Scheffler, 27, is in a heated argument with two of the men, convinced he could beat them both in pickleball. Both of them against just him.

“They are going back and forth like two teenagers. And he’s digging in. This is serious to him,” says Frank Voigt, a Royal Oaks member and part of this crew. He’s known Scheffler since he was 6.

Because Scottie Scheffler wants to win. No, he really wants to win.

As Scheffler has risen to No. 1 in the world and become the undeniable dominant force in golf , a narrative has formed that he’s boring. Ho-hum. And that he doesn’t produce much personality in front of a camera.

He’ll attempt to claim the second leg of a potential grand slam this week at the PGA Championship, but it’s an open question of whether he’s a marketable enough star to cross over at a time when pro golf badly needs something to cut through two years of petty infighting. The fallout from the creation of LIV Golf in 2022 has created unprecedented wealth in the men’s professional game and splintered the PGA Tour locker room into factions divided on its next steps. There is as much conversation about what committees recognizable stars like Tiger Woods, Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy sit on as there is their chances of competing week-to-week.

But Scheffler’s little secret is that he’s not boring. He’s one of the most competitive people on the planet, a “venomous” trash-talking former basketball player who rakes in money from club members, annihilates tour pros in money games and used to run so hot his Texas coach worried it would get the best of him.

And the Sunday before he won his second Masters, he sat around with a bunch of close friends and admitted he was overwhelmed. Much the same way it had been two years before, waking up with the lead at Augusta National had proven to be one of the hardest parts — dealing with in his mind about what was to come, and what could go wrong.

“I wish I didn’t want to win as badly as I did or as badly as I do,” Scheffler told them.

The evolution of Scheffler is in the ways he’s smoothed those edges, channeling that competitive fire to become a focused, seemingly emotionless machine on the course, where he has won four of his last five tournaments. Still, the narrative is not the reality.

Texas coach John Fields was chatting with Scheffler’s caddie, Ted Scott, recently about this very thing.

“Ted, everybody thinks Scottie is this laid back guy and really relaxed,” Fields said.

“Coach,” Scott laughed. “You know that’s not true.”

The Texas Longhorns golf team was at a match play event at Texas Tech in 2015, Scheffler’s freshman year. He and match play partner Beau Hossler arrived to the par-5 11th hole and launched their drives. Hossler reached the shorter ball first and took a look down. Sure it was not his, he kept walking to the ball farther up the fairway with a little spring in his step. He thought he outdrove the soon-to-be NCAA freshman of the year by 20 yards.

Scheffler walked to the first ball, assumed Hossler correctly recognized it was not his own, and hit it. Immediately after, Hossler looked down at the remaining ball and said, “This is not my ball.” The way NCAA match play works, if you hit the wrong ball, you immediately forfeit the hole.

Scheffler exploded. He sprinted the 250 yards to the front of the green, picked up the ball, ran all the way back and, “basically throws it at Beau’s feet,” Fields said.

“It was like a volcano went off.” They bickered all the way back to the green and as they made their way to the next tee box.

“As we step off that tee box, I said, ‘Beau, we are not going a step further until you apologize to Scottie.’ He’s like, ‘Why do I need to apologize? He’s the dumbie that hit the wrong ball!’,” Fields said.

Texas returned to Texas Tech for an NCAA regional later that season. By then, Scheffler was on his way to all the freshman accolades, but his game was starting to dip. He was on the back nine, and he hit a bad shot into the Texas wasteland. Scheffler was so angry he took a swipe at a bush with his left hand.

“Unfortunately, that bush was a Mesquite bush with thorns,” Fields said. “And that thorn went right in the left side of his thumb, underneath his fingernail. So you can imagine how much pain.”

But the thorn was so deep he couldn’t pull it out. Scheffler just had to keep playing. But Fields wasn’t with Scheffler’s group at the time. He had no idea of any of this, and Scheffler didn’t tell him.

Texas went on to dominate the regional and advance to the NCAA Championships. A week or so later, Fields walked around the local Byron Nelson PGA Tour event and ran into Scheffler’s dad, Scott.

“I’m really upset with you guys,” Scott said.

“OK, for what?”

“They haven’t been able to fix Scottie’s thumb!”

“What’s wrong with Scottie’s thumb?” Fields asked.

The thorn was so deep the trainer couldn’t get it out. Scheffler decided to just make sure it wasn’t infected and play the national championships with the thorn in his thumb. He’d hit a shot. Ice it. Hit a shot. Ice it. For five rounds of competition. When they later went to a surgeon in Dallas, he had to stitch it up and said if they had done it earlier, Scheffler would have been sidelined for the rest of the run.

“That, for sure, tells you how competitive he is,” Fields said. “First, how competitive he was that he got so angry he took a swipe at a bush. And second, persevering basically for 15 days of serious pain and almost having a chance to win a national championship.”

Sean Payton stared across the water, debating how to play the long par 3 at TPC Louisiana in New Orleans, as Scheffler just tore into him.

They’re playing a money game during a Wednesday pro-am before the 2022 Zurich Classic with Drew Brees, PGA Tour pro Ryan Palmer and some other business people, and Payton was hitting into the wind on the 17th hole. The 160-yard shot was playing more like 180, so the NFL coach was prepared to take a conservative angle to the right of the green, away from the water.

Scheffler wouldn’t let that happen. “Go for the pin,” Scheffler playfully heckled him with a cheese-eating grin. “Come on. Are you scared?” It’s what he did all day, needling Payton and Brees each chance he could. Payton did not take the bait on this one.

It did not matter. Scheffler still hit a 38-foot putt to win. “We had to pay,” Payton joked.

“I can tell from his demeanor and just kind of the way he approaches competition or a challenge that he’s had some pretty significant competitive background,” Brees said, “and it makes sense that a lot of that came from basketball. I can feel that confidence and that swagger with the way that he plays.”

Scheffler’s old basketball coach at Highland Park, David Piehler, recalls having to tell the then-No. 1 junior golfer in the country to stop throwing his body (Scheffler now stands 6-foot-3) in front of bigger players coming down the lane. He didn’t want to be the guy ruining Scheffler’s golf career.

This isn’t just how he is in a playful celebrity pro-am, either. It’s him all the time.

It was a Tuesday practice round before the Genesis Invitational in February, and money was on the line, so by the time their drivers left their bags Scheffler’s lips were moving. This time, Tom Kim was a target. “Be nice today, guys,” his caddie Paul Tesori said with a sigh.

While the specifics remain unclear, Scheffler quickly needled Kim about how he won money off him in their last game. But really, he gave Kim flack for just about everything he said or did.

Kim is a baby-faced 21-year-old rising star from South Korea whose mix of innocence and earnestness has attracted a large following already on tour. He moved to Dallas and was quickly taken under the wing of Scheffler and other Texas-based pros. Scheffler really does help Kim, the latter unafraid to pepper the former with questions. They’re authentically close — Kim was waiting on the 18th green when Scheffler won his second Masters last month. But Scheffler also likes to beat Kim. And he likes to remind him of it.

“Scottie will let him get some place, and then Scottie eliminates him,” says Randy Smith, Scheffler’s longtime coach. “Because Tom is such a cute kid. He’s so funny. But Scottie will kill him with facts.”

He recently brought Kim and Si Woo Kim to play Royal Oaks. They got to play the wolf hammer game with the traditional crew. Scheffler shot in the low 60s. Tom Kim shot a 74 with no birdies. “They wore his ass out,” Voigt said. Smith said Scheffler hasn’t stopped reminding him of it, reaching the point that Kim came back to Royal Oaks without Scheffler to redeem himself. “He came back here about three weeks ago and he’s like, ‘I made four birdies!’” Smith said.

“It’s kinda cute to watch Scottie with little Tom,” Voigt said. “He worships Scottie. Scottie is his big brother.”

The thing about Scheffler — the thing that makes those Royal Oaks games so informative — is he is a trash talker of the highest order. Smith called it “venomous. Absolute venom. But there’s no angst.” It’s all simultaneously nice but relentless. Vicious with a smile. He’s always been that way, often called an “ungracious winner” as a 10-year-old challenging Smith’s handful of PGA Tour clients.

At Texas, Scheffler loved to talk trash with his teammates. Most people spoken to for this story take it back to his basketball background.

“He’s a reserved golfer, but in other sports it’s pretty hilarious the amount of trash talking that goes on,” Scott said. “He should have been a basketball player. But once the competition is over, he just wants to be with his family and friends. A very normal dude.”

So here is the No. 1 player in the world, and he’s not playing with members his age at Royal Oaks, or a litany of fellow pros. No, he has his group of people he loves. “And they don’t kiss Scottie’s ass,” Colt Knost says. “They’ve known him since he was 7.”

And he annihilates them. If they’ve played 100 games, he’s maybe lost in wolf hammer five times. And while they play that, Scheffler also plays all of them individually in match play. They don’t win those. They have hemorrhaged money to their buddy for years on end. Knost, one of Smith’s former clients and now an on-course reporter for CBS, remembers seeing Scheffler, his first professional season on the Korn Ferry Tour, come play a PGA Tour event on a sponsor exemption, and he already carried a Trackman device to the driving range.

“Damn, Scottie,” Knost said. “Spending that money already?”

“Frank bought it for me,” Scheffler quipped without missing a beat.

One time, Voigt was in a good battle with Scheffler, and Voigt made what he admits was a ridiculous par on No. 16. “Scottie is just ragging on me about what a horrible putt it was, that I hit the top of the ball and it was terrible. I’m like, ‘Well, it went in.” Scheffler then had to make a 10-12 foot putt for a big pay day. He, of course, made it.

“It takes a little bit of the seriousness of everything going on and adds a little levity and lightness to it,” Smith said. “I think he enjoys the heck out of it … But he does not like to lose.”

It reached the point Randy Smith could set a timer to it. When a young Scheffler lost any sort of contest, he’d storm away, near sprint. Then, like clockwork, he’d be back 15 minutes later, ready to challenge people to a new game.

“You’d almost have to restrain him if he lost,” Smith said.

See, Scheffler’s family moved to Dallas when he was 6, and growing up at Royal Oaks working with the great golf coach Randy Smith meant the luxury of hanging around with PGA Tour golfers such as Justin Leonard, Ryan Palmer, Colt Knost and Harrison Frazar. Scheffler wanted to be like them. He always wore pants because the pros wore pants.

He’d sit and watch Leonard for an hour or two straight without saying a word, just soaking it all in like a sponge. Knost loves to tell the story of Scheffler sitting and watching while he practiced bunker shots for 15 minutes. Knost then went to pick up the balls, and he saw a ball land next to the hole with spin. He looked over to see Scheffler and asked if it was him. “How’d you do that?” Knost asked. Scheffler said he just watched.

This 9-year-old kid would challenge them to anything and everything. Putting contests. Chipping games. Nine-hole matches. Bunker battles. And he won far more than you’d imagine. He’d beg the pros to let him play Royal Oaks from the back tees, but they told him he couldn’t hit long enough. He kept pleading, so they said fine. Could he reach any of the par 4s in two shots? No. But his game was so composed and smart he’d manage the course and played par for nine holes.

Smith used to make his players do a putting drill where they’d have to make a certain number of putts in a row. First from three feet, then from six feet, then nine, 12, and 15, and they couldn’t leave until they made them all in a row. Well, one day Frazar was out there for what Knost remembers as five hours. He could not finish the drill.

Then Scheffler got out of school, showed up at the course and said, “Hey, let me try.”

Scheffler got it on his first try.

“Harrison wanted to rip his hair out,” Knost said.

But when Scheffler lost in those days he could not handle it. The thing Smith to this day credits him for, though, is how he might run hot but he doesn’t carry it with him.

“He gets rid of it so fast you wouldn’t know he lost,” Smith said. “That’s the sign of somebody who’s got it together.”

John Fields remains fascinated by the marriage between Scheffler’s different parts of his personality. Scheffler is both this hyper-competitive assassin and somebody who takes immense pride in separating golf from his life. Golf is everything to him when he’s out there. When he leaves the course, his focus is simply his home life with his wife, Meredith, or hanging with his normal, non-professional golf friends.

Fields talks with awe as he looks back on Scheffler’s finish at the 2021 match play event in Austin. This was the year before Scheffler’s breakout. He made it to the final with Billy Horschel, only to lose on the 17th hole.

The tournament had a cart waiting for the Schefflers to take them back to the clubhouse. Fields and his wife, Pearl, waited to give him their love. And 10 or so 10-year-old kids shouted for autographs and gear. Before he talked to friends and family, he spent time with the kids. He laughed and joked, giving them signatures and all the attention they’d want. You wouldn’t know he lost.

Then he hugged Fields and Pearl and talked for a moment. All still seemed fine.

“Then he got in the golf cart, and I could see he completely exploded,” Fields recalled. “The tears came to his eyes. He was so angry that he had lost, and it was borderline suffocating.”

It blew Fields’ mind. To see Scheffler lose. To see him go through the time with the kids and him and act so composed, now knowing what was actually boiling inside. Scheffler could separate them until it was time to feel it. Then he felt it, and he could move on and forget it forever.

“It’s there,” Fields said. “It’s still there. And it’s never, ever gonna leave.”

Scheffler is on top of golf. He’s been the best player in the world for roughly two and a half seasons. But this spring he’s reached a new level, turning more of those weekly top-5s into wins. Since the beginning of March, he’s won the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Players Championship, Masters and RBC Heritage, and finished T2 in his other event. His level of dominance is suddenly getting compared to Tiger Woods and other greats of the era. And through it all, Scheffler has seemed so normal, downplaying it at all costs.

The next step is what happens when winning becomes so routine. How do athletes of that stature keep themselves deeply motivated?

Smith thought the question misinterpreted the entire thing that makes Scheffler great.

Scheffler is not one of those golfers seeking what Smith calls “a magic bullet.” He’s never looking for the quick fix or something to solve everything and make him perfect. He doesn’t believe in it. Scheffler believes in going into each day trying to get a little bit better. It sounds so corny while explaining so much.

But he goes back to Scheffler’s putting woes in 2023. He remained the best player in golf, yet he had a ridiculous 15 top-5 finishes to three wins, all while being one of the statistical worst putters on tour. He got asked about it each week. It took a toll on him. For the first time in his career, he was being criticized.

But Smith said Scheffler always viewed it as a down-the-road, long term process. He’d try to improve one little detail on a certain day or work on a putting feel the next day. But he wasn’t going to do anything rash. Scheffler knew if he took the time to address it properly, he’d be the better player in the long run. Now, he’s putting at his best rate in two years and winning everything.

“Just trying to get a little better at this, little better at that,” Scheffler would tell Smith.”And that’s all I need.”

The future of Scottie Scheffler is this era’s superstar competing against himself. It might not be reliant on the field or a true rival. It’s all so simple. He’s going into each day trying to beat the version of himself that started the day. And if he does that forever, he’ll be tough to beat. Because Scottie Scheffler only wants to compete.

(Photo illustration: Sean Reilly / The Athletic ; photos: Andrew Redington, Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)

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Brody Miller covers golf and the LSU Tigers for The Athletic. He came to The Athletic from the New Orleans Times-Picayune. A South Jersey native, Miller graduated from Indiana University before going on to stops at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Indianapolis Star, the Clarion Ledger and NOLA.com. Follow Brody on Twitter @ BrodyAMiller

IMAGES

Tom Petty
Watch A Powerful Moment From Tom Petty's Very Last Performance
Watch Emotional Footage From Tom Petty's Final Live Show At Hollywood
Tom Petty's Last Tour: 637,671 Tickets Sold at 44 Shows With $61
Tom Petty's final Michigan show: The setlist and video of his last song
Watch Tom Petty Close his Last Ever Concert

VIDEO

Tom Petty
Tom Petty Last Dance with Mary Jane
I Won't Back Down
TOM PETTY LAST PERFORMANCE #tompetty
Tom Petty Memorial Tribute
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COMMENTS

Tour Dates and Setlists
A nonprofit website dedicated to preserving Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers related history. We focus on rare photos, interviews, articles, and reviews on a searchable database. ... Fillmore House Band 1997 | Echo Tour 1999 | Way Out West/East Coast Invasion 2001 | The Last DJ 2002 | The Lost Cities Tour 2003 | For The Hell Of It Tour 2005 ...
Inside Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' Last Big Tour
June 30, 2017. Behind the scenes as Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers battle the elements, remember old times and celebrate a 40-year bond during their "last big one." Daniel DeSlover/ZUMA. It's ...
Tom Petty Closes his Last Ever Concert with 'American Girl'
October 3, 2017 12:52 PM EDT. T om Petty had some final words for his audience in Los Angeles, California as he closed out the last concert of a world tour. "I wanna thank you for 40 years of a ...
The Final Song Tom Petty Performed In Concert
When Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers concluded a 53-show tour in honor of their 40th anniversary with a performance on September 25, 2017, the show at the Hollywood Bowl ended being the final ...
Tom Petty Was In Such Pain On Final Tour He Was Often Carried ...
October 22, 2020. Tom Petty 's death in the fall of 2017 of an accidental drug overdose was unexpected but preventable, says his longtime drummer Steve Ferrone. Petty cracked his hip shortly before the tour and chose to play through the pain, rather than delay the trek indefinitely so he could undergo a hip replacement.
Revisiting Tom Petty's Final Concert
Vincent Caruso Published: October 3, 2017. On Sept. 25, Tom Petty took the stage at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles to bring to a close the legendary songwriter's 40th anniversary tour. One week ...
Setlist History: Tom Petty's Final Concert
Setlist History: Tom Petty's Final Concert. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers performed their final show together on September 25, 2017 at the Hollywood Bowl. The sparkling gig was their third sold-out night in the row at the historic venue in the Hollywood Hills, and the last of 53 for their 40th Anniversary Tour.
Tom Petty: Final Concert Tour Earned $61 Million
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers wrapped an eventful 40th-anniversary tour with three momentous shows at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles in late September. Little did fans know at the time it would be the final opportunity to see the rock legend in concert, as days later Petty died on Oct. 2.. According to Billboard, Petty's Hollywood Bowl shows on Sept. 21, 22 and 25 were the highest-grossing ...
Tom Petty's Last Rolling Stone Interview
Tom Petty's Last Rolling Stone Interview. In his only sit-down interview on his final tour, he talked loving the Heartbreakers, hating "Zombie Zoo" and why he was having so much fun onstage. By ...
Watch Tom Pettyâ€™s Final 'American Girl' Performance
Rest in peace, Tom Petty. Here, watch him close out his final concert with the Heartbreakers, playing 'American Girl' Sept. 25 at the Hollywood Bowl. Tom Petty of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers ...
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers' Final Concert
Tom Petty, during his final concert, Hollywood Bowl, September 25, 2017. We didn't know that he soldiered on throughout the big 2017 tour with a fractured hip. Yet each night, he and his amazing band gave arena and stadium audiences their money's worth. And then some. They had played 56 concerts, including nine festival dates, spanning just ...
Tom Petty Concert & Tour History
254 Concerts. Thomas Earl Petty (20 October 1950 - 2 October 2017) was an American musician, singer, composer and songwriter best known for fronting Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Apart from the band, he released three solo albums: "Full Moon Fever" (1989), "Wildflowers" (1994) and "Highway Companion" (2006). Scroll to:
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers last performance of ...
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Monday Sept 25 40th Anniversary tour. Last performance at Hollywood Bowl of "Wildflowers" from the front row, the whole song....
Setlist History: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' Last Show
Tom Petty's tragic death last year shocked the world not only because it was so sudden, but also because exactly a week beforehand on September 25, 2017, he was wrapping an extensive tour with the Heartbreakers at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. They didn't know it then, but it would be the final time they played together. The six month, 53-show tour was in celebration of the band's 40th ...
Tom Petty's Last Song
The last song from Tom Petty's last concert. The Hollywood Bowl, Sept. 25, 2017
Watch Tom Petty's Final Performance at the Hollywood Bowl
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers performed at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles on Sept. 25, the last stop on the band's 40 th anniversary tour. That show was frontman Petty's final performance ...
Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers Concert History
Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers tours & concert list along with photos, videos, and setlists of their live performances. Search ... The last Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers concert was on December 23, 2023 at Buffalo Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo, New York, United States. The bands that performed were: Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers / Ron Ely.
Inside Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' Last Big Tour
Behind the scenes as Petty and his band battle the elements, remember old times and celebrate a 40-year bond.
Peter Wolf Describes the Magic of Tom Petty's Final Tour
J. Geils Band frontman Peter Wolf recalls his 40-year friendship with Tom Petty, which began and ended on tour together. ... The last time I saw Tom was the final night of the recent tour I played ...
Remembering Tom Petty's Final Minnesota Concert
The music world lost one of its defining voices on Monday (October 2) when Tom Petty passed away at the age of 66. With a career that spanned more than 40 years, Petty took the torch of 3-chord rock-n-roll, added his own bluesy elements, and helped the format evolve. Even as he was considered a traditional rock act, his influence on grunge was hard to ignore.
Watch Tom Petty's Final Concert
Just one week ago, Sept. 25, he wrapped up the trek in what will go down as his last show. It came as the third and final show of a mini-residency at the Hollywood Bowl. Petty and the ...
Tom Petty's final Michigan show: The setlist and video of his last song
Tom Petty died just a week after the final concert on his 40th anniversary tour with the Heartbreakers. His last concert in Michigan was on this tour on July 18, 2017 at DTE Energy Music Theatre.
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This taped program of the live concert features some of their greatest hits including "Free Fallin,'" "Mary Jane's Last Dance, " "I Won't Back Down," and more. ... Tom Petty Live from Gainesville ...
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Steve Earle's contributions to the highly-anticipated tribute album Petty Country: A Country Music Celebration of Tom Petty, due on June 21 via Big Machine Records, have dropped."Yer So Bad ...
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Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers will celebrate their 50th anniversary in 2026, and there's already talk of a tribute show to mark the occasion. But Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell isn't ...
Scottie Scheffler's secret: How a 'venomous' trash talker became the
The Texas Longhorns golf team was at a match play event at Texas Tech in 2015, Scheffler's freshman year. He and match play partner Beau Hossler arrived to the par-5 11th hole and launched their ...