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Here are our favorite Tom Petty tributes from the past week

 
Gainesville native Tom Petty, whose indelible heartland anthems about outsiders striving for the American dream, died Monday. [Getty Images]
Gainesville native Tom Petty, whose indelible heartland anthems about outsiders striving for the American dream, died Monday. [Getty Images]
Published Oct. 8, 2017

The passing of Tom Petty robbed us all of a transcendent musical talent. But, as these tragedies have the power to do, it also brought us together this week as we remembered the various ways Petty's music moved us. We traded stories about the first time we heard "American Girl," or the last time we saw the Heartbreakers grace the stage. We belted out "Free Fallin'" and remembered the iconic Traveling Wilburys years.

And we watched others remember. And our pain became joy, if even for a few moments.

Here were our favorite Tom Petty Tributes from the week.

Jason Aldean on Saturday Night Live

In perhaps the most emotional tribute of the weekend, Jason Aldean, who earlier in the week had to flee the stage during the horrific mass shooting in Las Vegas, had a message for those who wish to further the cause of violence and terror: "I won't back down."

Gator Nation

During Saturday's UF-LSU football game, members of Gator Nation honored Gainesville's native son with their own stirring rendition of "I Won't Back Down."

Miley and Billy Ray Cyrus

You might not have expected the Cyrus family to deliver one of the tightest Petty tributes of the weekend, but, well ... just watch. (H/t Spin)

Wilco

The alternative indie darlings felt every bar of this rendition of "The Waiting." (H/t Pitchfork)

ACL Music Festival

This one really caught our attention. Just before Tove Lo began her Friday set at Austin's Austin City Limits music festival, a gaggle of skydivers descended on the festival as speakers blared the Petty classic "Free Fallin'."

(H/t Austin American Statesman)

This tribute transcended music. So did Tom Petty.