Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers Keyboardist Benmont Tench To Go On With Solo Shows After Tom Petty’s Death
Tom Petty’s Heartbreakers bandmates are still grieving the death of their longtime frontman, but keyboardist Benmont Tench has announced that he will continue with his previous plan to perform a solo show at the end of October.
In a message posted to his fan club and to Instagram, Tom Petty’s longtime collaborator gave thanks to fans for all of the love and support they have given in the weeks following Petty’s sudden death of cardiac arrest at age 66. Tench then revealed that after much thought on the subject, he has decided to go on with a planned show at Largo at the Coronet in Los Angeles. In his note to fans, the Heartbreakers alum explained that the solo show was set well before Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers final 40th anniversary shows at the Hollywood Bowl.
“After what’s happened, I thought hard about whether to go ahead with it, was it right, is it too soon, am I even in a frame of mind to do it,” Benmont wrote.
“Well, I’m going ahead. You don’t stop playing music on any account, for any reason, and especially when faced with such enormous loss. You play more, louder, quieter, faster, slower, sad, joyous, angry, celebratory, lovingly.”
The Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers alum went on to say that he will get his Steinway piano down to Largo on October 28 and will play “a bunch” of his songs, but he made it clear that the show won’t specifically be a tribute to his longtime friend.
“This is not going to be any kind of a tribute to Tom — that tribute is taking place in my heart, for now; it’s too private, it’s between me and Tom & the great whatever-there-is,” he said. “But pretty much anything I’ve played since I was 17 or 18 years old has some kinda Tom to it, so maybe it’s all a kind of tribute, in a way.”
Benmont Tench was friends with Tom Petty for nearly 50 years. Benmont met Tom when he was 17 years old and began playing with Petty’s band, Mudcrutch, while in college. The Florida based band later evolved into Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
In his final interview with the Los Angeles Times, conducted just days before his death, Tom Petty revealed that had no plans for retirement in the near future. The rocker said his band of 40 years would stay together until one of them couldn’t do it anymore. In what now seems like a haunting premonition, Petty told the Times the following.
“If one of us went down, or if one of us died — God forbid — or got sick …We’re all older now. Then we’d stop. I think that would be the end of it, if someone couldn’t do it.”
While the Heartbreakers are no more, Petty’s bandmates will go on. In addition to the Largo at the Coronet show, Benmont Tench also has plans to hit the East Coast with his Steinway. The keyboardist will play at the Iridium in New York City on November 8 and 9.
Take a look at the video below to see Benmont Tench performing with Tom Petty.
[Featured Image by Ethan Miller/Getty Images]
