Despite his comments in 2013 on modern country music, Tom Petty has always had a huge impact on the biggest names we see today. Being referenced in songs from Tim McGraw and Jake Owen to Frankie Ballard and Aaron Watson, the “Free Fallin'” singer has clearly inspired some of the biggest names in the genre over the past decades.
If you’re unfamiliar with his comments, in a 2013 Rolling Stone interview, Petty took aim at the modern state of country music at the time, noting that he felt that country had lost its magic and didn’t think that there would ever be another classic artist like George Jones to come out of the genre:
“Well, yeah I mean, I hate to generalize on a whole genre of music, but it does seem to be missing that magic element that it used to have. I’m sure there are people playing country that are doing it well, but they’re just not getting the attention that the sh*ttier stuff gets. But that’s the way it always is, isn’t it?”
“But I hope that kind of swings around back to where it should be. But I don’t really see a George Jones or a Buck Owens or any anything that fresh coming up. I’m sure there must be somebody doing it, but most of that music reminds me of rock in the middle Eighties where it became incredibly generic and relied on videos. I don’t want to rail on about country because I don’t really know much about it, but that’s what it seems like to me.”
Following these comments, Chris Stapleton, before his breakout release of Traveller, penned a letter to Petty, offering him to essentially put his money where his mouth is and write/record songs with him:
Dear Tom Petty,
I think it’s safe to say most modern country artists, including me, would list you as an influence. Your recent comments lead me to believe you see room for improvement in modern country music. I, for one, would like to see you put you money where your mouth is in a tangible way. So, in the interest of making Country music less “shi*ty” (your words), I suggest a collaboration. I’m extending an open invitation to you to write songs with me, produce recordings on or with me, or otherwise participate in whatever way you see fit in my little corner of music. In the event that you actually read this and are interested, look me up.
Sincerely,
Chris Stapleton
Flash forward to 2020, before the release of Petty Country, which features the likes of Stapleton himself, Luke Combs, Dolly Parton, Lainey Wilson and many more, Combs was asked about Petty’s view by Bobby Bones on the BobbyCast.
When asked about Tom Petty in general, Combs said, “I just have this thing that hurts my heart a little bit about Tom Petty because I know he hated country music, and that hurts me a lot.”
Bones then noted that he believes that many, including Petty himself, have a misunderstanding about what country music means and also thinks that he would be labeled as country today, “Tom Petty was like a punk guy… I think there is a misunderstanding to a lot of people about what country music means. I think that Tom Petty would be a country artist now.”
He also added, “And to dislike something artistic because of a taste you have of it, I believe is unfair.”
Ultimately, it’s a bit understandable to see where he was coming from at the time. Despite having some great songs on the charts in 2013 like Miranda Lambert’s “All Kinds of Kinds,” Eric Church’s “Like Jesus Does” and Zac Brown Band’s “Goodbye In Her Eyes,” there were also some famously criticized songs such as Luke Bryan’s “That’s My Kind of Night” and Blake Shelton’s “Boys ‘Round Here” dominating the charts. If you’re like Petty and not ingrained in the country music world, and you turn on the radio and hear “Boys ‘Round Here,” I could definitely see why you would wonder what happened to the days of George Jones and Merle Haggard.
With that being said, however, like Bones said, there was no need to write off an entire genre simply because there were songs that you didn’t personally enjoy dominating the charts. Either way, it’s a fascinating detail, especially since country music seems to have such a reverence for the “American Girl” singer.
Watch the interview clip here: