In a Thursday Instagram post, the estate for the late I Won't Back Down singer announced that the University of Florida had awarded him a posthumous honorary Doctor of Music degree. Tom's brother Bruce Petty shared in a statement:. The singer was previously awarded the university's Distinguished Achievement Award in 2006. He died in 2017. The University of Florida's School of Music director Kevin Orr shared in his own statement that the institution was: "Privileged to honour Tom Petty with an honorary doctorate degree in Music..."