That's tough to hear. I don't think I really understood how much I liked his music until I heard a few minutes ago that there wasn't going to be any more of it.
As I remember the story, the Wilburys might have been a quartet except that Petty invited himself along to a rehearsal that George Harrison was heading off to. Petty sat in on some takes and everyone decided he needed to be in there. At the moment, these guys didn't know they were going to be a group. They were just there to help their buddy George finish off the B side to a single he was trying to get out. The Wilburys are my favorite accidental group of all time. I still take long pre-dawn walks with these guys pushing their tunes into my ears.
Orbison, Harrison, and now Petty. Sad day.
Petty was absolutely the best example there could be of hard-rocking cool. Lots of intense rockers could do 220V overboard self expression, but Petty absolutely nailed the I'm-laid-back-but-nobody-better-doubt-who's-in-charge persona. Jeez, somebody please tell me we can clone him.
