10 Hard Rock Songs By Non-Hard Rock Artists
8. Honey Bee - Tom Petty And Heartbreakers
After slogging it out for the better part of 20 years, Tom Petty went into the 90's with a renewed sense of creativity. While Petty's personal life was on the rocks, he threw himself into his work and crafted Wildflowers, one of the finest albums he would ever release.
Most of the record is what you expect from Petty, with great rock raveups mixed with more acoustic ballads. What no one could have seen coming was "Honey Bee," which took Petty's music from the heartland to a sweaty dive bar. The main riff on this tune is one of the bluesiest the band had ever laid to tape, as Petty rides the melody like a lust-filled troubadour. The way the initial riff builds across the verses gives the tune a relentless strut, whose sound could have easily come off an old-school ZZ Top record.
When promoting the record, Petty recruited Dave Grohl to play "Honey Bee" while the band were performing on Saturday Night Live. Seeing how Grohl had just been musically fractured with Nirvana, his impressive drumming talents were perfect for this fantastic slice of blues rock. Even if he's known as one of the kings of radio rock, "Honey Bee" was Tom Petty's greatest foray into the world of garage rock.