Tom Leadon, Tom Petty bandmate, dies at age 70

Tom Leadon, who with Tom Petty co-founded the 1970s band Mudcrutch, died last week at age 70, according to Rolling Stone.

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Leadon was also the brother of Eagles guitarist and co-founder Bernie Leadon.

“It is with great sadness, but profound love and gratitude for his life, that the family of Tom Leadon (Thomas Joseph Leadon) of Nashville, Tennessee, and Gainesville, Florida, announce his passing on March 22, 2023, peacefully of natural causes,” a post on Tom Petty’s official fan club said.

“He was a dear friend of Tom and the fellas in the band and our entire family. He was part of the brotherhood,” Petty’s daughter, Adria, said. “He was an excellent and accomplished musician and was the reason Tom reformed Mudcrutch, so that the band could enjoy more time and more music together. Tom loved him deeply.”

Leadon and Petty grew up near each other in Gainesville and played together as teenagers in the Epics and split off in 1971 to form Mudcrutch alongside Mike Campbell, drummer Randall Marsh, and singer Jim Lenahan, according to Rolling Stone.

Leadon left the band after a falling out with Petty and went to Southern California to live with his brother., according to Variety.

“The reason I really left the band was, I had been wanting to go to Southern California and be part of the country-rock thing that had been going on there for a long time,” Leadon said in an interview with Gainesville Rock History.

Leadon played with other groups and eventually retired from the music business only to reunite with Petty for a reunion of Mudcrutch in 2007 and again in 2016.

Petty died in 2017.

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