Personal Life
His first marriage, to Jane Benyo, lasted 22 years from March 31, 1974 to September 9, 1996. He spent most of those years working, on the road or in the studio. Petty and Benyo have two daughters; Adria is a film director and Kimberly Violette is an artist. Since June 3, 2001 he has been married to Dana York, whom he first met in 1993 when she visited one of his concerts. Petty has a stepson from York's first marriage named Dylan.
On May 17, 1987, an arsonist set fire to Petty's house in Encino, California. Firefighters were able to salvage the basement recording studio and the original tapes stored there, as well as his Gibson Dove acoustic guitar. His signature gray top hat, however, was destroyed. Petty later rebuilt the house with fireproof materials.
Read more about this topic: Tom Petty
Famous quotes containing the words personal and/or life:
“We of this Congress and this administration, will be remembered in spite of ourselves. No personal significance, or insignificance, can spare one or another of us.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)
“I found my brother’s body at the bottom there, where they had thrown it away on the rocks, by the river. Like an old, dirty rag nobody wants. He was dead. And I felt I had killed him. I turned back to give myself up.... Because if a man’s life can be lived so long and come out this way, like rubbish, then something was horrible, and had to be ended one way or another. And I decided to help.”
—Abraham Polonsky (b. 1910)