Coldplay honors Tom Petty with a beautiful cover of ‘Free Fallin’

The music world has lost one of its legends with the passing of Tom Petty, who was hospitalized after suffering from cardiac arrest and died on Monday night at the age of 66. As the frontman for The Heartbreakers, Petty’s distinct voice has been a fixture on the airwaves for decades, with hits like “American Girl” and “Mary Jane’s Last Dance.”

“Even as a very casual fan, or a total agnostic—as an American, or as any human anywhere with the slightest interest in the theoretical greatness of America—you likely know roughly 25 Tom Petty songs more or less by heart,” Rob Harvilla wrote in an article for The Ringer.

After news of Petty’s death, fellow musicians have paid tribute to the Rock and Roll Hall-of-Famer. But while many have weighed in on social media, a few artists who were actually playing shows on the night he died got to make more musical tributes. Coldplay was playing a show in Oregon on Monday night—a somber night for America. The band began its show with a minute of silence for the victims of the shooting in Las Vegas.

The British band then brought up former R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck for a cover of one of Petty’s most well-known songs, “Free Fallin.'” The result is … well, take a listen for yourself.

Sheryl Crow also dedicated a song to Petty at the 2017 espnW Woman + Sports Summit on Monday night. She said “If It Makes You Happy” was at least partly inspired by the late musician.

“We’re playing in Tom Petty’s memory,” Crow said, before launching into the song.

Little Steven & the Disciples of Soul opened their Monday show in Baltimore with a cover of Petty’s “Even the Losers.”

Petty himself was part of some pretty memorable musical tributes over the years. So we can only hope that somewhere, he is saying “Thank you, thank you,” in his trademark nasally twang.