Bob Dylan paid tribute to late friend Tom Petty during his concert in Colorado, on Saturday night. Dylan delivered a heartfelt cover of ‘Learning to Fly’ in honor of Petty.
Dylan joins a numerous list of artists who have covered Tom Petty to honor him after his death. Including Kesha, Jason Isbell, Dave Matthews and Wilco who have covered the late rocker in concert.
Dylan’s heartfelt tribute to Petty
Bob Dylan took fans by surprise on Saturday, during his encore concert in Broomfield, Colorado. The rockstar deviated from his setlist to perform ‘Learning to Fly’ to honor Tom Petty. But it was a special occasion, after all, the day would have been Petty’s 67th birthday.
‘Into the Great Wide Open’s ‘Learning to Fly’ was penned by Petty and Jeff Lynne, also known as Charlie T. Wilbury, Jr. and Otis Wilbury when they, along with Dylan, Harrison, and Roy Orbison, performed together in the rock supergroup Traveling Wilburys.
“It’s shocking, crushing news. I thought the world of Tom. He was a great performer, full of the light, a friend, and I’ll never forget him,” said Dylan of Tom Petty after hearing the news on October 2nd.
In recent years, Dylan has occasionally delivered tributes to late friends and artists including, Warren Zevon ‘Mutineer’, Link Wray ‘Rumble’ and fellow Wilburys “brother” George Harrison ‘Something’ onstage.Recently, Dylan released ‘Making of A Liar,’ a previously unreleased song from his upcoming box set ‘Trouble No More-The Bootleg Series Vol. 13/ 1979-1981’.
The new track is one of 100 previously unreleased recordings collected on the box set, which covers Dylan’s “gospel years” that resulted in three studio albums: ‘Slow Train Coming’, ‘Saved’, and ‘Shot of Love’.
The nine-disc collection is due out November 3 and comes in along with a new film about the era.
Petty was honored by family and friends
Tom Petty was honored at a private service at the Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine in Pacific Palisades, California on October 17. The late rocker died October 2nd at the age of 66 after going into cardiac arrest.
Friends and family gathered to honor the musician, though it’s unclear who spoke or was in attendance. AnnaKim Violette Petty, Petty’s daughter, posted several pictures from the service on Instagram, including one with an old portrait of Petty and some flowers, captioned with lyrics from his song, ‘The Dark of the Sun.’
The Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine previously hosted the funeral for Beatles legend, and Petty’s Traveling Wilburys bandmate, George Harrison in 2001.
Source: Pitchfork