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Tom Petty Loved Chicago (And We Loved Him Back)

By DNAinfo Staff | October 3, 2017 8:19am | Updated on October 3, 2017 8:32am
 Tom Petty plays guitar in this undated file photo.
Tom Petty plays guitar in this undated file photo.
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CHICAGO — Tom Petty was born in Florida and spent much of his adult life in California. On Monday, he died in Los Angeles at age 66.

But as a lover of the blues, Chicago was part of the soul of his music.

In 2006, he was honored by the city with an official "Tom Petty Day" proclamation. Signed by then-Mayor Richard M. Daley, the proclamation described him as "an icon" who has "touched the hearts of many around the world."

RELATED: Looking Back at Petty's Wrigley Field Show, Setlist

The official honor noted he first played here on Feb. 25, 1977 with the Heartbreakers at the former Ivanhoe Theater, 750 W. Wellington Ave. in support of their first album. In the biography "Rock and Roll Guardian," writer Andrea M. Rotondo said the Ivanhoe show was rare for the band at the time, as they headlined it during a tour that they mostly served as an opening act.

As recently as December, preparing for the 40th anniversary tour that stopped at Wrigley Field, the band practiced in Los Angeles after a three-year hiatus. Heartbreakers keyboardist Benmont Tench told Rolling Stone "when we get together we tend to do a lot of Chicago-style blues songs."

In 2005, the band released a two disc DVD Soundstage concert produced by WTTW Channel 11, that included a number of blues tunes, including "Little Red Rooster," first recorded at Chicago's Chess Records at 2120 S. Michigan Ave. in 1961.

"Taped for a two-part PBS Soundstage, Petty employs the Chicago locale as an entry into the blues and R&B that are at the foundation of rock & roll, and to a lesser extent, his music," reviewer Hal Horowitz wrote in AllMusic. "Blues revivalist chestnuts such as the Animals' 'I'm Cryin' ' and the Butterfield Blues Band's "Born in Chicago" also show Petty's affection for the second wave of British and Chicago blues."

In 2010, the band released "Mojo," described by USA Today as "a blend of blues and melodic rock [that] draws inspiration from the Chess Records vault and especially seminal bluesmen Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and Little Walter."

"I used to be a little insecure about whether I could sing the blues authentically. I can do my version of it, and this has our stamp on it," Petty said at the time.

His last appearance here, at Wrigley Field this summer, was described by the Tribune as "a master class." Petty wore a Cubs jersey with his name on the back for the encore.

“We came here first in 1977, and fell in love with your town,” he said, according to an Illinois Entertainer account. “Thank you so much for coming for 40 years.”