Jane Benyo: Truth About Tom Petty’s Ex-wife

Who Is The Ex-wife Of Tom Petty?

Jane Benyo is the ex-wife of Thomas Earl Petty also known as Tom Petty. Jane’s ex-husband Tom Petty was an American musician best known as the legendary frontman, lead vocalist, and guitarist of the rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. He enjoyed success as a solo artist with hit songs including ‘Free Fallin’, ‘Runnin’ Down a Dream’, ‘I Won’t Back Down’, and ‘You Don’t Know How It Feels’.

Jane Benyo: Bio Summary

Jane Benyo was born in 1951, in Gainsville, Florida, United States, according to the famouspeople. Her parents’ details are not available. There hasn’t been any information about her siblings and other relatives as well. She is said to have attended ‘Gainesville High School,’. Not much is known about her life as she lived a private life.

Jane Benyo Was The First Wife Of Tom Petty

Jane Benyo and Tom Petty started going out when they were still young. Their relationship began when they were teenagers. Jane once told mutual friend singer-songwriter Stevie Nicks that she met Tom at “the age of seventeen” but Stevie misheard Jane because of her North Florida accent, and Stevie thought she said “the edge of seventeen”.

This inspired the title of Stevie’s song “Edge of Seventeen”, according to Song Facts. Jane Benyo and Tom Petty got married in 1974. They gave birth to two daughters: Adria Petty and Kimberly Violette Petty (Annakim Violette). Adria is a director, editor, art director, and artist, best known for her music video work with Beyoncé and Regina Spektor. Annakim is an artist.

Per Daily Mail, during their marriage, Tom was often absent from home which led to Jane getting high and drinking to ‘ease her loneliness and isolation.’ It got to a point where Jane Benyo and Tom Petty’s marriage was nothing but falling apart. At times, Tom would come home from recordings session only to find his then-wife Jane passed out in the hallway, not from liquor alone.

ALSO READ: Kimberly Violette Petty: Who Is Tom Petty’s Daughter?

Jane was even losing a fight with mental illness. Tom abandoned Jane as he moved into a house in the Pacific Palisades although he felt terrible pain and guilt over leaving his family. Per Daily Mail, Jane and Tom’s daughter, Adria revealed that her mother Jane loved Tom but her insecurity and resentfulness turned her into a mean person.

Jane was verbally abusive and cruel towards Tom and their two daughters even before the divorce. ‘She suffered from mental illness,’ Adria said. Jane even called ‘regularly, obsessively, and threaten suicide if he said he was hanging up’. Jane Benyo and Tom Petty’s marriage ended in divorce in 1996 after more than 20 years of marriage.

Tom became a drug addict and struggled with heroin addiction. He felt emotional pain which he blamed on his divorce from Jane, as a major contributing cause. He later said that “using heroin went against my grain. I didn’t want to be enslaved to anything.” After Jane, Tom married Dana York on June 3, 2001, and they remained married until Tom died.

Tom and Dana never had any children together but Dana had a son, Dylan, from an earlier marriage. Eventually, Tom went to a treatment center and was able to successfully treat his addiction. Dana was by his side and supported him. It was Dana who saved Tom.

ALSO READ: Dylan Petty: Everything About Tom Petty’s Son

Jane Benyo’s Ex-husband Passed Away

On October 2, 2017, Jane Benyo’s former husband Tom Petty passed away. He was found unconscious at his home, not breathing, and in cardiac arrest, in the early morning hours of October 2, 2017, and was taken to the UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica, California, where he died. His death was caused by an accidental drug overdose. He was at the age of 66, 18 days before his 67th birthday when he died.

Full statement: pic.twitter.com/FGCVI5yIaa

— Tom Petty (@tompetty) October 3, 2017

In a statement on Tom’s official website, Dana and Adria wrote: ‘Our family sat together this morning with the medical examiner – coroner’s office and we were informed of their final analysis that Tom Petty passed away due to an accidental drug overdose as a result of taking a variety of medications.’

‘Unfortunately, Tom’s body suffered from many serious ailments including emphysema, knee problems, and most significantly a fractured hip. Despite this painful injury he insisted on keeping his commitment to his fans and he toured for 53 dates with a fractured hip and, as he did, it worsened to a more serious injury.’

‘On the day he died, he was informed his hip had graduated to a full-on break and it is our feeling that the pain was simply unbearable and was the cause for his overuse of medication. We knew before the report was shared with us that he was prescribed various pain medications for a multitude of issues including fentanyl patches and we feel confident that this was, as the coroner found, an unfortunate accident.’

‘As a family, we recognize this report may spark a further discussion on the opioid crisis and we feel that it is a healthy and necessary discussion and we hope in some way that this report can save lives. Many people who overdose begin with a legitimate injury or simply do not understand the potency and deadly nature of these medications.’

‘On a positive note, we now know for certain he went painlessly and beautifully exhausted after doing what he loved the most, for one last time, performing live with his unmatchable rock band for his loyal fans on the biggest tour of his 40-plus year career. He was extremely proud of that achievement in the days before he passed.’

ALSO READ: Dana York: Facts About Tom Petty’s Wife

‘We continue to mourn with you and marvel at Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ incredible positive impact on music and the world. And we thank you for all your love and support over the last months.’

‘Thank you also for respecting the memory of a man who was truly great during his time on this planet, both publicly and privately. We would be grateful if you could respect the privacy of the entire Heartbreaker family during this difficult time.’