"Was his own genre".
I think he kept good old guitar rock and roll alive through the '80s and '90s. Without the angst.
His music was a big part of my life back then. Our band played a few of his tunes. 
Listening to Greatest Hits right now.
Coincidentally, "Free Fallin' " came on just as I scrolled into LP's post.

Such a great loss. Way way too young to go

man, just kicked back today in my mind, and streamed petty all day.
 
album after album, hit after hit, mood after mood, killer guitar tone after killer guitar tone...
so many good songs.
 
they're all kinda the same, in a way.... story telling.
 
when you are in the mood for a story,
i gotta say,
petty is one of the best ever.
 

Monday night I spent some time comparing levels of music videos on YouTube, to see how they conformed to the -11 LUFS standard YT uses (right-click on a video and select "stats for nerds"). Clearly, some are mastering specifically for YouTube now (many, many others are definitely not and the difference is clearly audible).
 
This one was one of the best-sounding vids I checked out. According to YT it's at -0.5 dB below the target. It was made after Roy's death so he're represented by a photo on a table, and I was thinking "George is now gone, I wonder which Wilbury will be next?". Got my answer the very next day.
 

batsbrew
man, just kicked back today in my mind, and streamed petty all day.
 
album after album, hit after hit, mood after mood, killer guitar tone after killer guitar tone...
so many good songs.
 
they're all kinda the same, in a way.... story telling.
 
when you are in the mood for a story,
i gotta say,
petty is one of the best ever.
 

 
I did the same, listening to Petty's greatest hits on my 2 mile walk.  I noticed how awesome the guitar tone was, as well.  I also noticed that the songs were done with minimal tracks, only what was needed for each song.  That made the songs sound so clean and clear.

jamesg1213
Tom had one of those perfect sidemen in Mike Campbell, love how everything he did served the song. Great partnership.

well said:the outro to Running Down a Dream says it all.
cheers

One clip to see...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpG09PenZt8

The way it should be.

Here's a peek at Tom's home studio.

That's great, thanks Bit.

Wow, I didn't even know that Garry had passed last year!  Both at 66...
 
That was an interesting clip.  Two guys trying to kick back and have a casual conversation, but surrounded by cameramen!  "Now act natural!"  Like Dilbert says, it's impossible to "act" natural!