

While his wife and daughter stayed at a friend’s place in nearby Beverly Hills, Petty began to rebuild the place on the exact same plot of land, using his basement recording studio, which was one of the few rooms to survive, as the foundation. Tragically, an arsonist set fire to Tom Petty’s Los Angeles home in May 1987, bringing most of it to the ground. There ain’t no easy way out (I won’t back down)
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That year, the team went to the World Series to play the Oakland Athletics. The San Francisco Giants used the song for Jeff Brantley’s walk-on in 1989. (Petty was born in Gainesville, Florida.)

The song has also had significant meaning when it comes to sporting events, including becoming a tradition at Florida Gators football games. Petty’s family later wrote on Instagram that they were “touched to see Tom included on such an important night in America.” Later, in November 2020, President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris played “I Won’t Back Down” at their victory speech in Wilmington, Delaware. Tom Petty would never want a song of his used for a campaign of hate. Both the late Tom Petty and his family firmly stand against racism and discrimination of any kind. That letter read, “Trump was in no way authorized to use this song to further a campaign that leaves too many Americans and common sense behind. In 2020, after his death in 2017, Petty’s family issued a cease and desist letter to President Trump’s campaign for the use of the song at a Trump rally in Tulsa. Others have used it subsequently, including Ron Paul of Texas.

Hilary Clinton used the song, too, during the 2008 Democratic presidential primary campaign. Jim Webb later used the song for his successful efforts to be one of Virginia’s Senators in 2006. Petty’s team sent Bush a cease and desist and then the artist later played it for Al Gore at his home after Gore conceded the election to Bush. The track has been used at campaign events, including George W. Sam’s people were very understanding of our predicament and we easily came to an agreement.”įor his part, Smith said he hadn’t heard “I Won’t Back Down” before writing “Stay with Me.” But he acknowledged the similarity, calling it a “complete coincidence.” Most times you catch it before it gets out the studio door but in this case, it got by. Petty commented on the exchange, saying he didn’t think Smith plagiarized him, adding, “All my years of songwriting have shown me these things can happen. In 2015, Petty and Lynne’s people contacted the smooth singing Sam Smith’s representatives after it was realized that Smith’s hit song, “Stay with Me,” contained a resemblance to “I Won’t Back Down.” As such, Petty and Lynne received 12.5% of the royalties and were credited as co-writers of the song. Petty and the Heartbreakers even performed a rendition of it at the America: A Tribute to Heroes telethon after the attacks. “I Won’t Back Down” was a popular play on American radio after the tragic September 11 attacks. In a world that keeps on pushin’ me aroundīut I’ll stand my ground, and I won’t back down Well I know what’s right, I got just one life Its meaning, therefore, is genius, as it is. If Petty had said it was the devil, a mother-in-law, a police officer, a thief, then the song would be that much more unrelateable to those without those foes. As a result, the song stands in as something anyone can play, sing or listen to when needing to stand up to someone in their own life. Yet, Petty doesn’t much name who the adversary is, for him. The new cover of “I Won’t Back Down” is exclusively available to stream at goodnoise.io, a music and arts platform launched by Sorum to encourage “social and environmental change.One of the reasons the song was so successful and so well-reviewed is because it’s an anthem for standing up for what you believe.

12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and quickly establishing itself as one of Petty’s most beloved tracks.
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Originally released in 1989, “I Won’t Back Down” was the lead single from Petty’s solo album Full Moon Fever. “In 'I Won’t Back Down,' Tom Petty so powerfully wrote, ‘You can stand me up at the gates of hell, but I won’t back down.’ The girls and I are honored to have Blake, Joe, Timothy and Matt join us in spreading this message far and wide,” Cordola said via a statement. The group’s mission is “to teach the guitar to war-torn, poverty-stricken children, in particular young girls who have little to no rights and are often forced into marriage and face the most extreme forms of violence.” The rendition was recorded to support The Miraculous Love Kids, a non-profit organization founded by American musician Lanny Cordola.
