“I can’t say I knew Tom, although I did meet him twice, once to get his autograph backstage after I saw him open for Nils Lofgren at the Sheffield City Hall in 1978, and in a bowling alley of all places in 1983 when Def Leppard & Tom happened to be in the same town on the same night, but I’m incredibly saddened by the news of Tom Petty’s passing. I love that 1st album (that’s what he signed for me!), always have, always will, but I have to add that Full Moon Fever was played on an almost daily basis when Leppard were writing & recording the Adrenalize album. Through his work with the Heartbreakers and The Traveling Wilburys he’s left us with an incredible legacy to enjoy forever, it’s such a shame he has left us way before his time.
RIP Tom, safe travels into the Great Wide Open…”
– Joe Elliott
