MusiCares Person of the Year in February 2017 for his contributions to music and for his philanthropy. He also acted; he had a recurring role as the voice of Lucky Kleinschmidt in the animated comedy series King of the Hill from 2004 to the show's original conclusion in 2009.

Petty died of an accidental drug overdose in October 2017 at the age of 66, one week after the end of the