Tom Petty’s ready for halftime fete

The audience will be the biggest one in the rocker’s career.

By CHRIS HARRY

ORLANDO SENTINEL

PHOENIX — When Hillary Clinton celebrated her victory in the New Hampshire primary two weeks ago, she did so to the tune of “American Girl” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, blaring in the background.

“We didn’t know about it and we’re certainly not endorsing any candidates,” Petty said Thursday. “You wouldn’t want to take a guitar player’s advice on something like that, anyway.”

Petty, the Gainesville-born guitar bandit, isn’t endorsing a team for Super Bowl XLII, either, though he did reiterate his affinity for the Florida Gators. Tonight, he’ll settle for just playing to the biggest audience of his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame career.

“It’s a pretty prestigious booking,” said Petty, who will perform three songs during halftime of the NFL championship game. “We’re very honored to have the job.”

Unlike his predecessor last year, Petty didn’t play a miniconcert for the media on hand to promote the Bridgestone Halftime Show. That’s what Prince, the eccentric and super-shy rocker who disdains interviews, did.

Petty, 57, opted for the conventional approach taken by the likes of U2, Paul McCartney and the Rolling Stones of recent Super Bowls.

He was asked if he’d be thinking of the millions watching on television or the 70,500 fans inside University of Phoenix Stadium or his bandmates on stage during a game that could draw the largest viewing audience in TV history.

Petty, apparently, hadn’t put too much thought into the vastness of his upcoming gig.

“A lot is just trying to remember the next chord,” he said.

One local TV reporter told him he was “still smoking hot” and asked if she could accompany him to some Super Bowl parties.

“Bless your heart, honey,” Petty shot back. “You’ll have to talk that over with my wife.”

When told that New England Coach Bill Belichick, a rock fanatic, said earlier in the week he’d jam to some T.P. before the big game, T.P. had the right answer. “It’s never kept anyone from winning,” he said.

Also making appearances were Grammy-winning R&B star Alicia Keys, who will provide the pregame entertainment, and Jordin Sparks, the 2007 “American Idol” winner who will sing the national anthem in her hometown of Glendale, Ariz.

Sparks’ father, Phillipi Sparks, played cornerback for the Giants during eight of nine NFL seasons. Another reporter asked Sparks if her dad was going to force her to “root for the Knicks.”

The elder Sparks never played in a Super Bowl.

“He’s glad one of us made it,” she said.

Keys was born in Harlem and was unabashed about her allegiance “to the next Super Bowl champions: the Giants.”