Petty didn’t find modern music appealing at all and was disappointed by what he discovered. For him, classical legends were inspirational. The turning point for the singer was meeting musical icon Elvis Presley as a 11-year-old. As per Billboard, when he was asked about whether meeting Presley changed him in a major way, Petty said, “He certainly did….You weren’t prepared to have your life changed in a minute. It really had that sort of impact. It wasn’t like meeting Jesus, but it was close.” He went on to say, “Everything became pretty clear at that moment” and added that he felt like being a rockstar seemed more appealing than ever after he bumped into Presley

He also said that watching the Beatles perform for the first time on television had a significant impact on him. “That was when the world turned to color from black and white. All of a sudden Technicolor,” Petty said. “I was 13 or 14, and I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my life, no question. It still baffles me a little bit as to why the lightning bolt hit me, but it did.