Neil Young’s opinion on Tom Petty

Unlike many artists from older generations, Neil Young didn’t remain interested only in the era of music that inspired him first. He has always been enthusiastic about new bands and often encourages young musicians to write and perform their own music.

That has been evident throughout his career, as he collaborated and performed with many incredible acts that emerged after him. He was also a major inspiration for countless American musicians, including the late Tom Petty, about whom Neil Young has shared his opinion.

What is Neil Young’s opinion on Tom Petty

Although they were not close friends and didn’t perform many times together, Neil Young is a big fan of Tom Petty and said the late artist “sure left a mark” on him. “‘That’s Tom’s gate.’ I’ve said that many times driving past his house. Now that Tom is gone, I feel him even more. Tom is a great artist. Not he was. His art is. I met Tom a few times when he played the Bridge School Benefit. He sure left a mark on me. A Mark that goes deeper with age.”

“I wish I had gotten to know him better. His life was a lot like mine and I relate. What an amazing feeling, watching him in this film, ‘Somewhere You Feel Free’ – The Making of Wildflowers. His daughter with him in the studio, listening intently, feeling the magic of his music, his songs, his smile, his spirit. His friends, great musicians, talking about their life – friend. See that film. It’s alive,” Neil Young said in his website in 2024 about Petty, telling his fans to watch the documentary “Tom Petty Somewhere You Feel Free” (2021). After his tragic and sudden death in 2017 at the age of 66, Neil said he was a great force and a tremendous contribution to music.

Neil Young said:

“Tom, I’m sure you heard how great your last show was. Everyone was talking about your happiness and the band’s happiness to be with you on that stage. Those chords are still ringing around the world. You have been such a great force, a tremendous contribution to music and the feelings people will hold in their hearts forever when they hear you everywhere. Peace Brother,” Neil Young said in a statement.

Curiously, both of them had the same manager for a while. The late Elliot Roberts managed Neil Young for more than 50 years and also worked Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. Both musicians had the chance to perform together a couple of times. One occasion was when they played “My Back Pages” with Bob Dylan and other guests at “Bob Fest,” Dylan’s 30th-anniversary tribute in 1992. The other was in 1989, when Tom covered Dylan’s “Everything Is Broken” at Neil Young’s charity event, the Bridge School Benefit, in Mountain View, California. The late musician took part in many editions of Young’s charity shows.

The Neil Young album Tom Petty called fabulous and said he used to hear all the time

Neil Young is one of the most prolific songwriters of all time and released more studio albums than most of the famous artists out there. Until 2025, for example, he put out 45 studio records, not counting the ones with CSNY and Buffalo Springfield.

He was never afraid of experimenting and trying different things, and one of his most unusual albums was Trans, released in 1983. Many fans and critics didn’t understand what Young was trying to do at the time. He incorporated a lot of technological sounds, using synthesizers and other electronic instruments. However, Tom Petty actually liked that record and talked about it in an interview with Larry Katz when the album was released.

“I thought (the album) was fabulous, I think it’s one of the best records he’s ever done. I really enjoy hearing people so pissed off, I thought it was wonderful. You’ve really touched a nerve there because I play that album every day. I think it’s great for someone to be around for so long and keep you thinking. Because it’s all there on that album. There’re really songs there. A lot of people are into this techno-pop. The songs aren’t good, but they get a great rhythm or stuff,” Tom Petty said.

Tom Petty also supported some of Young’s ideas beyond songwriting

Petty not only supported Neil Young’s music but also some of his technological innovations. One of them was Pono, a portable media player and music download service for high resolution audio. The goal was to let listeners hear songs as they truly sounded during the recording sessions, using high resolution 24 bit 192kHz audio instead of compressed MP3s, which, as Tom Petty once pointed out, represented only about 5% of what a song actually sounds like.

“I have a big vinyl collection and I still think it’s the best sounding format apart from the one Neil Young’s got in his car. If they ever get that Pono (Neil Young’s super high-definition audio platform) thing up and working, that’s something I’m really behind. I think that if people realize that with an ,Mp3, you’re only getting five percent of the sound that’s there. But when you hear the entire thing . . . I think it would save the music business. It’s such a drastic change,” Tom Petty told Rolling Stone in 2013.