The Florida Gators honored the late Tom Petty by performing a rendition of the legendary rock musician’s song ‘I Won’t Back Down’.
Petty, who hails from Gainesville, Florida, passed away on Monday at age 66 after going into cardiac arrest. The exact cause of death is still being determined.
Videos on Twitter showed the crowd of 90,000 at the University of Florida v Louisiana State University football game on Saturday with their arms around each other, swaying to the song.
The Florida Gators honored the late Tom Petty (pictured, August 2017) by performing a rendition of the legendary rock musician’s song ‘I Won’t Back Down’
Videos on Twitter showed the crowd of 90,000 at the University of Florida v Louisiana State University football game on Saturday with their arms around each other, swaying to the song (pictured)
The Gators announced earlier this week that they would honor the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer at this weekend’s game – who died on Monday at age 66 after going into cardiac arrest (Pictured, fans at the game on Saturday)
After fans had sung ‘We Are The Boys’ – the song traditionally sung at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in between the third and fourth quarters – they belted out the Petty classic (Pictured, Devin White of LSU sacks Felipe Franks of the Florida Gators on Saturday)
After fans had sung ‘We Are The Boys’ – the song traditionally sung at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in between the third and fourth quarters – they belted out the Petty classic.
Cody Worsham, editor of Tiger Rag, an online publication that covers LSU sports, told The Hollywood Reporter the singing was spontaneous.
‘Clearly every fan in the building knew every word,’ Worsham said.
The Gators announced earlier this week that they would honor the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer at this weekend’s game.
‘Let’s celebrate together what he meant to the world of music and what he meant to this community,” Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin said.
The Florida Gators tweeted a video of the crowd singing from their official account and captioned it: ‘This one’s for you, @TomPetty.’
Petty (pictured, 1977) briefly worked as a groundskeeper at the University of Florida as he tried to make it in music. He found fame in the 1970s with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
Petty briefly worked as a groundskeeper at the University of Florida as he tried to make it in music.
In the 2007 documentary ‘Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Runnin’ Down a Dream’, Petty reflected on life in Gainesville growing up.
‘It was a little town in the ’50s. It was a very Southern contingent there. There was a kind of farming element and then there’s the university, so you had this mix of people. You could run across just about any type of person there,’ he said.
‘I remember it fondly growing up. It was just big enough that it had two movie theaters, which was great.’
Petty (pictured, front, far right) is seen backstage before his final performance at the Hollywood Bowl on September 22
Petty is seen with daughter Adria Petty and his second wife Dana York in September 2012
Petty’s final gig was with the band he founded in the 1970s, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, on September 22 at The Hollywood Bowl.
He is survived by his second wife, Dana York, and two daughters.
On Monday afternoon, TMZ posted an audio recording of the 911 emergency call Petty’s wife Dana made after finding her husband unresponsive.
She tells the dispatcher that Petty wasn’t breathing and was lying on the floor.
The dispatcher tries to talk her through performing CPR before Dana says that Petty was breathing ‘very shallow breaths’ at which point she was instructed to stop CPR.
According to the University of Florida, Gainesville Mayor Lauren Poe and city officials plan to discuss permanent ways to honor Petty and the Heartbreakers.