The Killers performed Tom Petty’s 1977 classic, “American Girl”, as a tribute to the late rocker at the 2018 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame induction in Cleveland, OH on April 14, and video from the evening is available online.
According to Cleveland.com, the Las Vegas, NV band were the surprise opening act for the event at the city’s Public Auditorium, where they ripped through the Petty track before segueing briefly into the singer’s 1989 solo hit, "Free Fallin.'"
“Ladies and gentlemen get out of your seats,” implored frontman Brandon Flowers, “pay some rock and roll respect to the impenetrable, the masterful, to the eternal Tom Petty.”
Flowers returned later in the evening to induct The Cars into the Rock Hall alongside Dire Straits, Bon Jovi, the Moody Blues, Nina Simone, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe.
Petty passed away last October 2 at the age of 66 in a Santa Monica, CA hospital after being found unconscious and in cardiac arrest at his Malibu home.
In January, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner revealed the rocker died as a result of “multisystem organ failure” caused by an accidental drug overdose of several medications he had been prescribed to treat emphysema, knee issues, a fractured hip and coronary artery atherosclerosis – a buildup of plaque that restricts blood flow to the arteries that supply the heart with blood.
Petty was laid to rest in a private ceremony in Pacific Palisades, CA on October 16.
Petty and The Heartbreakers were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2002, with the singer’s combined solo and group sales topping 80 million albums worldwide.
See also:
VIDEO: Tom Petty rocks Beatles classic on George Harrison tribute concert reissue
Tom Petty’s cause of death revealed
Tom Petty laid to rest in private Los Angeles service
Tom Petty returns to US charts following his death
Search Tom Petty at hennemusic
