The music world continues to mourn the loss of the iconic Tom Petty. In the past couple days, his songs have been covered by Miley Cyrus, Fleet Foxes, Wilco, The National, Coldplay, and others in tribute. Now, longtime Petty fan Taylor Swift has spoken out about the loss of a musical hero, who she credits for making her want to learn how to play the guitar.
Swift recently told Rolling Stone that she’s long been inspired by the depth of Petty’s accessible songwriting:
“To me, Tom Petty represented a kind of songwriting I idolized: complex simplicity. It said so much in the lyrics, the concepts, the stories, the message, the nuances… but always brought you back to a hook that got stuck in everyone’s head. He motivated thousands of guitarists to learn to play just because they wanted to be able to play ‘Free Fallin.’ Count me as one of them.”
Petty’s influence on Swift makes sense, considering her musical origins as a more country- and Americana-oriented act that preceded her status as the pop giant she’s become today; not to mention the universal appeal of Petty’s songs. Swift previously covered Petty’s classic “American Girl” and released her rendition as a promotional single in 2009.
Listen to Swift’s cover below.
