Tom Petty Said a Comment by Bob Dylan Made Him Realize He Was Famous

By the time Tom Petty rose to fame, Bob Dylan had been a working musician for over a decade. He was a legendary musician who Petty had admired for years. Once Petty’s music began to gain popularity, he had the opportunity to meet Dylan. He explained that a brief comment during a Dylan concert made him realize that he’d made it. 

Tom Petty became a fan of Bob Dylan long before they met

Dylan began working as a musician before Petty was even in high school. He started listening to Dylan’s music around 1965.

“We hadn’t heard Dylan [growing up in Florida] until ‘Like A Rolling Stone’ came out as a single,” Petty said, per American Songwriter. “And we loved that right away. We learned that, did it in the show. We learned all his singles. We didn’t have Dylan albums until Blonde on Blonde [1966]. I had heard Highway 61 Revisited [1965]. A friend of mine had that. But I actually bought Blonde on Blonde. That’s where I really got into Bob. And I started to really dig his thing.”

When Petty began to work on his own music, he took inspiration from Dylan. 

“He influenced my songwriting, of course. He influenced everybody’s songwriting,” he said. “There’s no way around it. No one had ever really left the love song before, lyrically. So in that respect, I think he influenced everybody, because you suddenly realized you could write about other things.”

The Heartbreakers singer realized he was famous after a comment by the other musician 

Over 10 years after Petty first began listening to Dylan’s music, he went to one of his concerts.

“Me and Bugs [Weidel, longtime roadie] got two comps,” he said. “We left the Shelter studio, and we drove to the Universal Amphitheater, had a flat tire, and both of us got out on the road trying to change the tire. So we were just covered with grease and dirt. And we got to Universal, found our seats. The show had just begun. And then midway through the show, Bob introduced the celebrities in the audience, which was kind of unusual for Bob.”

During the celebrity introductions, Petty could hardly believe it when he heard his own name.

“It was like ‘Joni Mitchell’s here’ and there’d be applause,” he explained. “And then suddenly he said, ‘Tom Petty’s here.’ And there was applause. And that was the first time it really hit me that people knew who we were. Because I’d only made two records then.”

At the end of the concert, Petty had the chance to go backstage and briefly meet Dylan.

Tom Petty and Bob Dylan worked together in the 1980s

Several years later, Petty got to know Dylan on a much more personal level. After the Heartbreakers successfully played as Dylan’s backing band at Farm Aid, Dylan invited them on tour. While touring together, Petty and Dylan formed a friendship.

“One of the nicest things about Bob is that he’s an honest guy. Really, really honest,” Petty said. “Not someone who would ever lie. Not someone who would blow his own horn. And I enjoyed all those years of working with him, and I think we had a genuine friendship. Still do. We had a lot of long talks.”