Watch Bob Dylan Cover Tom Petty’s ‘Learning to Fly’ at Colorado Concert
Bob Dylan paid tribute to his late friend and Traveling Wilburys bandmate Tom Petty with a cover of “Learning to Fly” during the encore of Dylan’s Saturday night concert in Broomfield, Colorado.
The performance, a surprise deviation from Dylan’s usually rigid setlists, came one day after what would have been Petty’s 67th birthday.
Into the Great Wide Open‘s “Learning to Fly” was penned by Petty and Jeff Lynne, also known as Charlie T. Wilbury, Jr. and Otis Wilbury when they – along with Dylan, Harrison and Roy Orbison – performed together in the rock supergroup Traveling Wilburys.
Following Petty’s death October 2nd, Dylan said of Petty in a statement to Rolling Stone, “It’s shocking, crushing news. I thought the world of Tom. He was a great performer, full of the light, a friend, and I’ll never forget him.”
In years past, Dylan has occasionally delivered tributes to late friends and artists like Warren Zevon (“Mutineer” and others), Link Wray (“Rumble”) and fellow Wilburys “brother” George Harrison (“Something”) onstage.
Watch more crowd-shot footage of Dylan’s “Learning to Fly” below: