Tom Petty: Forever In Our Hearts
Needless to say, emotions are running very high after Monday’s shocking death of rock legend Tom Petty. Social media has been overflowing with love and remembrances, as many of our peers have posted photos and favorite memories of their encounters with Petty. Sky Daniels, GM/PD of non-comm KCSN/Los Angeles shared this photo a very special plaque that was presented to Petty and The Heartbreakers on October 29, 2011. The inscription reads, “Dedicated to Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers — True Believers In The Magic of Rock N Roll.”
“That says it all for us,” Daniels (center) tells RAMP. “We owe him forever.” Daniels explains the story behind the plaque, as he said, “We presented this to the guys backstage after they played our first benefit concert in 2011. Sixty days into my tenure here, I asked Tom to help me build this station to support artists. He had 1.5 million reasons to say no — literally, not rhetorically — Tom had been offered the headline slot at the New Orleans Jazz and Pop Festival for $1.5 million, but he turned it down; he said he would rather play our show to help us.”
Daniels added, “We have affectionately dubbed Tom ‘our patron saint.’ We will build this station into the market-maker that will help build the next Tom Petty’s career, and we will do so in his memory.”
• Our friends at Benztown and The Mix Group have both produced beautiful audio tributes to Tom Petty, who died Monday at the age of 66. (The password for The Mix Group tribute is “heartbreaker.”
