I Won’t Back Down

I Won’t Back Down

Tom Petty

“I Won’t Back Down” was the lead single from Tom Petty’s 1989 release Full Moon Fever. The song features guitar and background vocals from both Jeff Lynne and George Harrison. Drums were performed in the track’s music video by Ringo Starr, but they were actually played by session drummer Phil Jones.

This was Petty’s first single without The Heartbreakers credited as his backing band. Members of the band did play on the album, however.

The song peaked at #12 in the US, #16 in Australia and #28 in the UK.

Petty recalled the recording of this song to Mojo magazine:

At the session George Harrison sang and played the guitar. I had a terrible cold that day, and George went to the store and bought a ginger root, boiled it and had me stick my head in the pot to get the ginger steam to open up my sinuses, and then I ran in and did the take.