WATCH: 90,000 American football fans sing Tom Petty in his home city
90,000 college football fans at The University of Florida have paid poignant tribute to Tom Petty in his home city Gainesville.
During a game between Florida Gators and the LSU Tigers at the Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on Saturday (7th October), fans began a mass sing-along of Tom Petty’s 1989 anthem ‘I Won’t Back Down’ in his honour.
Editor of LSU Tigers magazine Tiger Rag, Cody Worsham, and the Florida Gators themselves shared footage of the powerful tribute on social media and it quickly went viral.
Telling The Hollywood Reporter that the singing was spontaneous, Cody Worsham said: "Clearly every fan in the building knew every word."
> RIP Tom Petty. pic.twitter.com/8akHgv3hKd > > — Cody Worsham (@CodyWorsham) October 7, 2017
> This one’s for you, @TomPetty. pic.twitter.com/OMUwJOnAgS > > — Florida Gators (@FloridaGators) October 7, 2017
Tom Petty was born in Gainesville, Florida on 20th October 1950 and briefly worked at the University of Florida in his younger years.
On Saturday Night Live over the weekend, country musician Jason Aldean paid homage to both Petty and the victims of the Las Vegas mass shooting by singing ‘I Won’t Back Down’ in a surprise performance. Check out the footage below.
Tom Petty died last Monday (2nd October) after suffering a cardiac arrest at his home in Malibu, California.