The family of Tom Petty is pursuing legal action against RR Auction House for selling what they believe to be stolen personal property from the late rocker’s secured archive.
The auction company recently listed dozens of items from Petty’s vaults, including jackets, vests, shirts, hats, jeans, footwear, duffle bags, guitar straps, posters, CDs and vinyl, some of which are autographed.
At the time of this writing, a black-and-white striped satin jacket from 1977 is sitting just above $5,700 with 25 bids. A space-themed vest similar to the one Petty wore at Live Aid is up to $1,000 with 14 bids. Other high-dollar items include his blue and white denim jackets, a 1987 Guns N’ Roses tour jacket featuring a customized name tag (“Tom — I’m With Axl”), a signed vinyl promo poster from 1978’s You’re Gonna Get It! album and a pair of black Zodiac boots.
Petty’s family, however, is fighting for the immediate return of these items and encouraging fans and collectors to refrain from bidding on them until the issue is settled.
“We believe RR Auction, headquartered in Boston, is offering stolen Tom Petty memorabilia with a completely false provenance inaccurate to fact and in complete denial of clear evidence they have been presented,” the family said in a statement. “They will not disclose the cosigner who has provided these items or how they were acquired. But they are clearly stolen, there is no other word for it.”
“These items have irreplaceable sentimental and educational value for the family and legacy of Tom Petty and we look forward to their safe return,” they added.
For now, the Petty auction lot is scheduled to end on June 22.
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