Tom Petty Assumed Gay by Violent Dad

Tom Petty admits that his father physically and verbally abused him because he assumed the singer was gay.

"[My father] was scary and violent," Petty said in the new issue of Rolling Stone, according to website Spinner. "He beat the living hell out of me, and there was constant verbal abuse."

According to the music legend, his father assumed that Petty was gay because he was interested in the arts instead of baseball.

"Looking back on it, he probably was disappointed that I was so drawn to the arts. He probably thought I was gay," added the "Free Falling" singer. "I wasn't interested in sports. I didn't know the names of any baseball players. I liked films and books and records."

Petty also admits to still having nightmares about his violent father.