Fivethirtyeight published a chart recently that has him as the fifth most-played artist on radio, responsible for roughly one out of every 40 songs. That he has that honor without being divisive among music fans, and also somehow never had a #1 album on Billboard until 2014 says so much about how we accepted his…

I’m 54 year old. Tom Petty and his music have been a constant in my life since I’m 13. I’ve worn out his records and seen him perform more times than I can count. He never quit. He has a new album and just finished a tour — he never became a “play the greatest hits at the county fair” guy.

I remember he hated Toy Story 3 because he didn’t understand why someone would give their toys away just because they were going to college.

My old dad still cites that episode today as being real meaningful to him.

I’ve seen a lot on indie rock producers slag them off, I think because they like rough edges on their music and Steely Dan sanded those off. The rough edges were all in the lyrics. But, these records don’t sound overproduced. There’s a groove there, it has soul.

“Oh Disney what a pity you don’t understand,

How do you think you lost your hair? Your mom was dying her hair when she was nursing you, that’s why!