Suggested Release of Tom Petty’s ‘Wildflowers’ Album Caught in Midst of Legal Battles Between His Widow and Daughters

You hate to see legal disputes and bitterness make headlines after the passing of a big music icon, but that seems to be what’s happening with Tom Petty‘s estate. On Tuesday, TMZ reported a conflict between Petty‘s widow, Dana York Petty, and his two daughters, Adria and Annakim, over a number of things central to the Petty estate.

One of them surrounds the suggested 25th anniversary reissue of Petty’s 1994 album Wildflowers. Dana is said to have wanted to include previously unheard tracks from the original recording sessions, but Adria in particular has made that the subject of significant back-and-forth. In fact, Dana is caught up in a legal dispute with the daughters over who should be running Petty’s estate in the first place.

Via TMZ:

As for the unreleased tracks, Dana claims in the lawsuit, filed by attorney Adam Streisand, both daughters, but mostly Adria, have gone off the rails … directing their anger at everyone in Tom’s orbit, including the surviving members of The Heartbreakers.

Dana points to an email directed at the surviving members — Benmont Tench and Mike Campbell —  in which Adria rants, “What I don’t have the temperament for is having my entire life raped. Being disparaged. My dad being disgraced. And being surrounded by selfish, unreliable people and drug addicts.”

She goes on … “I am sorry i am not a man and can not earn your respect through the work and deeds I do.” And, the daughters are blocking the release of new solo tracks that Petty had recorded 25 years ago. Dana says she wanted to include the tracks in a 25th-anniversary box set release of his smash hit album, “Wildflowers.” 

Plans for a special edition of Wildflowers, featuring unreleased material, was in discussion in the years leading up to Petty’s death in 2017, with a song, “Somewhere Under Heaven” even premiering as a preview.

However, those plans were not finalized by the time he passed away … so this dispute will likely continue.

Here’s hoping cooler heads prevail.