Tom Petty's Florida
UF Later Years: More Good Booty
First Key to Gainesville
"I Won't Back Down" Singalong
Second Key to Gainesville
Gainesville Hilton, SW 13th St., Gainesville
Tom Petty received his first key to the city of Gainesville during a 1981 press conference at the Gainesville Hilton on SW 13th Street, which at the time was considered a luxury hotel yet is now vacant. You can watch a video clip of Mayor Courtland A. Collier presenting the key to Tom Petty here:
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=501171171869113
And you can watch an MTV News report that covered Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ 1981 homecoming, which included the key presentation and Tom answering questions from reporters. You will also see a short clip of the band performing a charity concert at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center on the University of Florida campus, where Stevie Nicks was one of the guests on stage. Watch here:
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=796275864763474
Note that the second key to the city was presented 25 years later, in 2006, by Mayor Pegeen Hanrahan at a pre-concert press conference at the Stephen C. O’Connell Center on the University of Florida campus, where the concert was held.
Photo from MTV News video footage.
Second Key to Gainesville
"I Won't Back Down" Singalong
Second Key to Gainesville
250 Gale Lemerand Dr, Gainesville, FL 32611
https://maps.app.goo.gl/ToHQdurR959C1iwD9
The Stephen C. O'Connell Center was the site of six concerts by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in 1981, 1983, 1990, 1991, 1993, and the last one on Sept. 21, 2006, which was on the band's 30th anniversary tour. Stevie Nicks was a special guest on stage that night.
In this building during a pre-concert press conference for the 2006 show, the University of Florida presented Petty a Distinguished Achievement Award. Afterward, Gainesville Mayor Pegeen Hanrahan proclaimed Sept. 21 to officially be Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Day in the city, then presented the second key to the city to Tom Petty, who was joined by his fellow Heartbreakers that all received keys as well (note that the first key to the city was given 25 years earlier, in 1981, to Petty by Mayor Courtland A. Collier at the Gainesville Hilton).
In response to a reporter's question about what returning to Gainesville is like for bandmembers who grew up here, Petty said, "Really, every corner you turn, there's some kind of memory." Keyboardist Benmont Tench said: "I really, really love this town. You all need to realize what you got."
To learn more about this 2006 event, read this article from The Gainesville Sun:
The 2006 concert, which turned out to be the last by the Heartbreakers in Gainesville, can be watched here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlIegN1unss&list=PLfGibfZATlGrOmN-PCyK5L9WiREPElzH-
In a 2014 interview with the Gainesville Sun, Petty said: "I love playing in Gainesville. I love it. I think we'll get back before all is said and done."
Photo courtesy of The Gainesville Sun.
"I Won't Back Down" Singalong
"I Won't Back Down" Singalong
"I Won't Back Down" Singalong
157 Gale Lemerand Dr, Gainesville, FL 32611
https://maps.app.goo.gl/idBiQRM9ZbJeYWcR6
Tom Petty and neighborhood friend Keith Harben, while both were 13, sold Cokes in the stands of Florida Field.
But today, Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, popularly known at The Swamp, is where you can participate in a crowd singalong of Tom Petty's anthem, "I Won’t Back Down," at all Gator football home games -- a tradition that began after his 2017 death. To read about the singalong tradition and Tom Petty Day, which begin in 2022 when he was posthumously awarded an honorary Doctor of Music, here's an article from the Gainesville Sun: https://www.gainesville.com/story/sports/college/football/2023/09/23/florida-tom-petty-day-explained-gators-honor-rock-legend-college-football/70935003007/
To watch a YouTube video of a singalong, go here:
Better yet, experience it yourself, in person! But if you can't make it to the stadium and you'd like a souvenir, check out the Tom Petty Day Florida Gator attire for sale by the official Tom Petty Estate store:
https://store.tompetty.com/collections/tom-petty-day-x-florida-collection
Photo by Shawn Murphy.
A Course in Tom Petty
Tom Petty Endowment for Guitars & Innovation
"I Won't Back Down" Singalong
1885 Stadium Rd, Gainesville, FL 32611
https://maps.app.goo.gl/bXY6DJhnrR8EHYss5
In 2018, the University of Florida's College of Journalism and Communications, based in Weimer Hall, offered a course taught by Professor Clay Calvert titled Petty: The Biography about the life of Gainesville native Tom Petty, as noted in this Gainesville Sun article: https://www.gainesville.com/story/news/local/2018/02/01/petty-101-1-credit-uf-course-to-focus-on-rockers-biography/15352405007/
To read more about Tom Petty's connection to the University of Florida and the Gainesville community, read this article by university public relations: https://floridagators.com/news/2022/10/13/football-tom-petty-lives-on-strong-at-uf-and-his-hometown-of-gainesville-101422.aspx
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.
Tom Petty Endowment for Guitars & Innovation
Tom Petty Endowment for Guitars & Innovation
Tom Petty Endowment for Guitars & Innovation
101, Fine Arts Building A, Gainesville, FL 32611
https://maps.app.goo.gl/dzj6XaaeVJEcgHF37
The University of Florida College of the Arts was a recipient of a $100,000 donation by the family of the late Tom Petty. This donation served as seed money for the College of the Arts' Tom Petty Endowment for Guitars & Innovation. The Petty family’s investment also helped to expand the School of Music’s guitar program, in addition to the Music Business & Entrepreneurship program.
To donate to this endowment, go here: https://www.uff.ufl.edu/giving-opportunities/027839-tom-petty-endowment-for-guitars-and-innovation/
Image courtesy of the University of Florida.
Dr. Tom Petty
Tom Petty Endowment for Guitars & Innovation
Tom Petty Endowment for Guitars & Innovation
Newell Drive, University of Florida campus
https://maps.app.goo.gl/hWRYWveiLqGxFbXN6
The University of Florida School of Music posthumously awarded Tom Petty an honorary Doctor of Music at the spring 2023 Doctoral Ceremony on May 4, 2023.
Kevin Orr, director of the School of Music, said the following in his presentation speech: “We in the UF School of Music and College of the Arts are privileged to honor Tom Petty with an honorary doctorate degree in music, celebrating not only his extraordinary achievements as an artist but the ways in which his music has and continues to unite us as a community. Tom Petty’s tireless defense of the rights of performing artists, and his compassionate advocacy for the wellbeing of his neighbors in every community where he lived, are embodied by the students and faculty of the UF School of Music: commitment to one’s artistic passions, even in the face of challenges; the safeguarding of creative work to ensure unique and lasting impact; and indeed, the power of music to advance causes for the greater good in society.”
Here is a university press release about, and a video recording of, this event: https://news.ufl.edu/2023/05/tom-petty/
And here is the short bio video that was shown to that audience: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muSPgmRXKKU
Photo courtesy of The Gainesville Sun.
Tom Petty Special Collection
Tom Petty Special Collection
Tom Petty Special Collection
1545 W University Ave, Gainesville, FL 32603
https://maps.app.goo.gl/4FjfjM8mP83R9tnN7
The academic repository for a special collection dedicated to Tom Petty is housed by the George A. Smathers Libraries. Much of it is digitized and available online here: https://ufdc.ufl.edu/results?q=%22tom+petty%22
This also happens to be where you will find a comprehensive collection for Bo Diddley, one of Tom Petty's musical idol. Much of this collection is available to researchers with an advance reservation. Here is where you can learn more about this collection: https://news.ufl.edu/2019/03/bo-diddley-collection-at-uf-honors-the-originator/
Photo by Shawn Murphy.