The Guardian asked Lucinda Williams if she had any memories of spending time with Tom Petty that stuck out. Lucinda remembers opening for The Heartbreakers in 1999 and related the following story: ” [Tom Petty] He was always concerned about how I was doing and how I felt. In the 1990s, he brought me on tour with him. The crowd didn’t know who I was, and folks would sit with their arms folded, waiting for Tom.”
After noticing the audience’s lack of interest during one of the shows, Petty took matters into his own hands. Lucinda went on to say: “When Tom saw this happening, he came out on stage one night, took the mic, and said, ‘I want you to listen to this next artist because she’s really good.'” You must pay attention.’ It was just really touching and heartwarming since nobody ever does it. I had no idea he’d do that, and it speaks a lot about him as a person.”
Lucinda wanted to memorialize Tom when he died in 2017 because the two musicians had become excellent friends. She recently released a song called ‘Stolen Moments’ from her upcoming album ‘Stories From A Rock n Roll Heart,’ which is slated to be released on June 30th, to pay tribute to her late friend and supporter. You can hear the music below. The Guardian interview can be found here.