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Tom Petty’s Widow And His Daughters Can’t Come To An Agreement Over His Music

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Lauryn Overhultz Columnist
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Tom Petty’s widow and two daughters are in a legal battle over who gets to manage the singer’s estate.

Tom’s wife, Dana Petty, claims his daughters, Adria and Annakim Petty — both born of Petty’s ex-wife, Jane Benyo — are teaming up in an effort to leave her out of decisions over Tom’s estate.

Dana is requesting the court appoint a day-to-day manager with authority that can make sure she and Tom’s daughters have equal participation, according to court documents obtained Tuesday by The Blast.

Dana would prefer if all the decisions require an agreement between the three instead of majority voting because she feels the two daughters will side with each other and not cooperate. (RELATED: Remembering The Man, The Myth, The Legend – Tom Petty)

“Although Petitioner did everything in her power to treat Adria and Annakim as family, sadly, they, and in particular Adria, have repeatedly demonstrated their resentment over their father’s love for Petitioner and her role in his life,” Dana wrote in her court petition.

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Some nights, you know the photos are going to be good before the band even hits the stage. That was the case for the two shows Tom and the band played at the Royal Albert Hall in London in June 2012. Everyone was excited to be overseas, but there was a special buzz around the @royalalberthall, the legendary London hall that has hosted so many historic concerts and events. So I knew when Tom’s limo arrived in the backstage tunnel a few hours before doors opened for the first show that it was gonna be a memorable night. TP stepped out of one side of the limo, and his wife, Dana, emerged from the other side, handing a black suit bag to Dean. I was hanging about to see if they’d be up for a photo in front of a graffiti mural underneath the venue with the faces of various iconic musicians who’d tread the boards. Tom was up for it, and we snapped a few frames before he started for the elevator. “Hey,” he said, turning to Dana. “Where’s the bag?” “Dean’s got it,” she replied, turning to their long-time security chief, who was holding the suit bag. That was the moment I knew that photos were going to be good. Something special was in that bag. I don’t know who designed the beautiful black pinstripe suit Tom wore onstage that night at the Royal Albert Hall; I assume it was Glen Palmer, his long-time stylist. But when the band hit the opening chords to “Listen to Her Heart” and the lights came up, Tom was standing center stage sporting that suit with a beautiful vintage yellow Fender Telecaster around his neck. It was the photographic equivalent of shooting fish in a barrel; you could almost do no wrong. Just as Mike Campbell took his first guitar solo after the song’s bridge, Tom drifted to stage left, and, looking out over the sold-out Royal Albert Hall, broke into a huge grin. That’s when I snapped this photo. -Andy Tennille, Photographer. #pettyforever Now available as either a lithographic or fine art print! For details and to order click the Bio Link!

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The example Dana uses is that Adria brought in Larry Jenkins to manage the estate without running it by Dana first.

Dana claims Jenkins actually has worked out great and Adria “became disappointed as she learned that Mr. Jenkins was not going to allow Adria to run roughshod over him or Petitioner, that Mr. Jenkins intended to include all voices in the process and to make recommendations he believed were in the best interest of Tom’s legacy.”

Dana also claims the daughters blocked an idea she had to include unreleased music in the 25th anniversary “Wildflowers” album.

Tom’s daughters claim that Tom wanted his music moved to a different trust and have filed their own documents in response to Dana.