History Music / TomPetty

* RefrainFromAssuming: It's "Mary Jane's Last Dance," not "Last Dance with Mary Jane."
* SpiritualSuccessor: ''Full Moon Fever'' could be seen as this to ''Traveling Wilburys Vol 1'' since the other Wilburys (minus Music/BobDylan) contributed (Lynne: Bass, electric guitar, keyboards, background vocals and RecordProducer, Harrison: Acoustic guitar and background vocals on "I Won't Back Down," Keltner: Drums, maracas and tambourine on "Love Is a Long Road," and Orbison: Background vocals on "Zombie Zoo").
** In many ways, ''Highway Companion'' is one to ''Full Moon Fever.''

** Taken UpToEleven when he recounted a story about how his son was complaining about his schoolwork. Petty said he knew that he needed to say that it was necessary, that his son needed to focus on his education, etc. But he looked over his son's schoolwork and couldn't help thinking "''he's right. This is bullshit''". Both parents and students could well relate...

* NiceHat: Unfortunately, the original grey top hat got destroyed when his house burned down. He got another one, though.

"She's a loser
She's a forgiver
And she still finds good

* AbusiveParents: Unfortunately for Tom.

* DeadArtistsAreBetter: Downplayed-Unlike the waves of tributes other singers got at this time, Petty’s passing was overshadowed by the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. It didn't help that there were conflicting reports on whether he’d died or not. Still, he got it better than [[Music/ChristinaGrimmie the last artist]] with this dishonor.

* NiceGuy: He has always been described as a humble, polite and kind person. And, of course, many songs of him tell about his morals, integrity and honesty: after all, his song TheLastDJ is a TropeNamer.

* NotableMusicVideos: "Into The Great Wide Open" stars a young Creator/JohnnyDepp.

* DropDeadGorgeous: The famous music video for "Mary Jane's Last Dance" features Creator/KimBasinger's corpse receiving quite a lot of MaleGaze before Petty's character takes it on an actual date.

* LastDanceWithMaryJane: The music video for Tom Petty's "Mary Jane's Last Dance" tells the story of a mortician who takes home the corpse of a Young Woman (played by Creator/KimBasinger), and has a relatively lovely romantic evening with her. The song's chorus features the line, "Last dance with Mary Jane."

* NightmareFuel: "Mary Jane's Last Dance" has Tom Petty as a morgue worker who steals the corpse of a beautiful woman (played by Creator/KimBasinger) and takes it home with him, which he dresses up, eats with, and does other things to, before finally dumping her in the ocean. The worst part? At the end, she opens her eyes.

* DarthWiki/WarpThatAesop: Tom Petty's "Last Dance With Mary Jane": If you work as a mortician, you should bring female corpses home, just because they're so damn beautiful.
* WhatDoYouMeanItWasntMadeOnDrugs: While marijuana is involved in the song, the music video is about Petty as a morgue assistant who takes home the corpse of a woman (played by Creator/KimBasinger) for a dinner date. Necrophiliac sex with her is the "last dance". Heartbreaker guitarist Mike Campbell said, "My take on it is it can be whatever you want it to be. A lot of people think it's a drug reference, and if that's what you want to think, it very well could be, but it could also just be a goodbye love song.

He had a minor but credited acting role as a mayor in Creator/KevinCostner's post-apocalyptic disaster film ''Film/ThePostman'' and was the voice of Elroy "Lucky" Kleinschmidt (Luanne Platter's redneck boyfriend turned husband) on the later seasons of the Creator/{{FOX}} sitcom ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' (though the first time Lucky appeared on a ''King of the Hill'' episode was "The Redneck of Rainey Street," which focused on Kahn and Minh becoming trailer trash after Kahn, Jr. gets rejected from a college prep summer school program).

** Taken UpToEleven when he recounted a story about how his son was complaining about his schoolwork. Petty said he knew that he needed to say that it was necessary, that his son needed to focus on his education, etc. But he looked over his son's schoolwork and couldn't help thinking ''he's right. This is bullshit''

Thomas Earl "Tom" Petty (October 20, 1950 – October 2, 2017) was an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Gainesville, Florida. He was the frontman of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and a member of Mudcrutch. He was also a member of the {{supergroup}} Music/TheTravelingWilburys, under the pseudonym of Charlie T. Wilbury Jr. He recorded a number of hit singles, many of which remain heavily played on adult contemporary and classic rock radio. Likewise, his music, most notably his hits, have become increasingly popular among younger fans as he hosted sold-out shows in his recent tour dates.

* AmericanAccents: Tom and guitarist Mike Campbell are almost poster boys for Northern Florida.

He had a minor but credited acting role as a mayor in Creator/KevinCostner's post-apocalyptic (and [[SnarkBait box office]]) disaster film ''Film/ThePostman'' and was the voice of Elroy "Lucky" Kleinschmidt (Luanne Platter's redneck boyfriend turned husband) on the later seasons of the Creator/{{FOX}} sitcom ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'' (though the first time Lucky appeared on a ''King of the Hill'' episode was "The Redneck of Rainey Street," which focused on Kahn and Minh becoming trailer trash after Kahn, Jr. gets rejected from a college prep summer school program).

* WolfWhistle: Done with his guitar several times during "I'm A Joker".

** Once, when asked if using cocaine affected his songwriting during the recording of ''Southern Accents'', Petty replied: "No, I think it affected my breaking my hand."[[note]] For a bit of context, Petty got frustrated with the recording process and punched the wall. He shattered his left hand. He got better. [[/note]]

* FrivolousLawsuit: Petty quoted the trope word-for-word when mentioning why he never took legal action in response to the [[SuspiciouslySimilarSong similarities]] between the ''Music/RedHotChiliPeppers'' song "Dani California" and his song "Mary Jane's Last Dance," adding that most songs sound similar. [[invoked]]

* TheGoodKing: Claims this is what he would be in "It's Good to Be King:"

* ''[[http://www.mtvmusic.com/petty_tom/videos/150418/runnin_down_a_dream.jhtml Runnin' Down a Dream]]''

* BodyHorror: At the end of "Don't Come Around Here No More," Alice turns into a cake and is eaten by the band.

** For one example, he and Bob Dylan were asked at a press conference in 1986 why they decided to tour together. Petty's answer: "[[MoneyDearBoy Money.]]" He also added in a newspaper interview: "It also helped that Bob asked me."
** Once, when asked if using cocaine affected his songwriting during the recording of ''Southern Accents,'' Petty replied: "No, I think it affected my breaking my hand." [[note]] For a bit of context, Petty got frustrated with the recording process and punched the wall. He shattered his left hand. He got better. [[/note]]
* DropDeadGorgeous: The famous music video for Tom Petty's "Mary Jane's Last Dance" features Creator/KimBasinger's corpse receiving quite a lot of MaleGaze before Petty's character takes it on an actual date.

* WarpThatAesop: Tom Petty's "Last Dance With Mary Jane": If you work as a mortician, you should bring female corpses home, just because they're so damn beautiful.

* {{Determinator}}: "I Won't Back Down", a song he wrote after an arsonist set fire to his home, destroying most of his possessions.