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Louder
Louder
Entertainment
Dave Everley

“He was an immortal badass”: the genius of Tom Petty, by the people who knew him best

A posed studio portrait on Tom Petty in 1977.

“Call me a punk and I’ll fucking cut you. I’m fucking serious. I don’t fuck around.”

It didn’t take much to get Tom Petty’s blood up back in the old days. He was a natural-born malcontent with a black biker jacket and a smirking sneer plastered across his face. At least that was the impression the world got from the picture on the cover of the debut album from his band, Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers.

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