DEF: Tom Petty “Free Fallin'”

As you likely know, Tom Petty passed away on Monday at the age of 66. Petty reached his highest levels of success, at least in terms of chart performance, in the 1980s, when he placed fifteen songs on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart, eleven of which reached the Top 40 and two of which made the Top 10. Interestingly, Petty’s two Top 10 hits, the only two of his career, bracketed the decade. Petty began the 1980s by hitting the Top 10 with “Don’t Do Me Like That” in February 1980. Then, ten years later, as the decade ended, his second Top 10 hit, “Free Fallin’,” was in the Top 20, working its way to a peak position of number 7, which it would reach in January 1990. “Free Fallin'” was Petty’s biggest hit, and in memory of Tom Petty, “Free Fallin'” is today’s Daily Eighties Flashback.