Petty rocks Super Bowl halftime

PHOENIX, Arizona (AFP) — Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers rocked Super Bowl 42 Sunday, joining an elite list of pop legends to lend themselves in recent years to the National Football League's title extravaganza.

The venerable US band, who launched their career with the their self-titled debut album in 1976, opened the 12-minute set with "American Girl," as a neon-ringed arrow wheeled from one end of the field to join with a brightly lit heart-shaped stage and form their logo.

Fans responded enthusiastically to the chance for some audience participation with flashlights in the darkened stadium as the band launched into "I Won't Back Down", "Free Falling" and "Running Down a Dream."

Looking ahead to the gig, in which he follows in the recent footsteps of U2, Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones and Prince, Rock and Roll Hall-of-Famer Petty had said he wasn't thinking ...