I saw him in concert a couple of times at Walnut Creek in Raleigh, once with Steve Winwood opening.
He put on a great show, although his Southern Accents tour--for which he later expressed some contrition--did bring out a certain drunken, redneck clientele that seemed a bit at odds with his more thoughtful persona.
Pretty big Petty section on my CD shelves. And the download library.
He wasn't quite in my Dylan, Springsteen, Beatles pantheon but he was pretty darn close.
He was one of a number of musical icons, e.g. Springsteen, Jackson Browne, Richard Thompson, Stevie Wonder, Bonnie Raitt, et. al. that are/were about my age. So, I guess I feel like we kind of grew up together. This one hits me hard.
"I don't know but I've been told
If you never slow down, you never grow old."
RIP