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Tom Petty was born on October 20, 1950, in Gainesville, Florida, and grew up in the Duckpond area of northeast Gainesville. He graduated from Gainesville High School in 1968 and worked for a time as a groundskeeper at the University of Florida. His first serious band, Mudcrutch, started in Gainesville, and several of the Heartbreakers came from the same local scene before they all headed to Los Angeles.

MudcrutchThe Band

Sources: Tom Petty - Wikipedia · University of Florida Athletic Association to celebrate the first inaugural Tom Petty Day - tompetty.com

The Heartbreakers came together in 1976 after Mudcrutch broke up, with Tom Petty, guitarist Mike Campbell, keyboardist Benmont Tench, bassist Ron Blair and drummer Stan Lynch. Howie Epstein took over on bass from 1982 to 2002, and Ron Blair then came back for the rest of the band's run. Steve Ferrone replaced Lynch on drums (touring from 1994, a full member from 1999), and multi-instrumentalist Scott Thurston became a full member in 1999. Petty, Campbell and Tench were the constants from start to finish.

The BandEvery lineup

Sources: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Wikipedia · Mudcrutch - Wikipedia

The debut, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, came out on Shelter Records on November 9, 1976, produced by Denny Cordell. It was slow to catch on at home but did well in Britain after a UK tour, and it only reached the US album chart in 1978. 'Breakdown' was the first single and became a US Top 40 hit, and 'American Girl' turned into one of the band's signature songs.

Tom Petty and the HeartbreakersBreakdownAmerican Girl

Sources: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (album) - Wikipedia

Mudcrutch was the Gainesville band Tom Petty formed with Tom Leadon in 1970; Mike Campbell, Randall Marsh and later Benmont Tench were also members. They put out a locally pressed single in 1971, ran festivals at the 'Mudcrutch Farm', and became one of the best-known bands in Florida. In 1974 they moved to Los Angeles and signed with Leon Russell's Shelter Records, but their 1975 single 'Depot Street' did not chart and the label broke the band up that year, keeping only Petty. Petty, Campbell and Tench then formed the Heartbreakers.

MudcrutchDepot Street

Sources: Mudcrutch - Wikipedia

Petty felt Mudcrutch never really got its chance to be a band and make records, and working on the 2007 documentary Runnin' Down a Dream brought those early years back into focus. He described the reunion as a passing thought that he wanted to act on, and called Tom Leadon and Randall Marsh to join Campbell and Tench. They recorded the album Mudcrutch in about two weeks in August 2007, mostly live in a couple of takes, and it reached No. 8 on the Billboard 200 in 2008. A second album, 2, followed in 2016 and reached No. 10.

MudcrutchMudcrutch (2008 album)

Sources: Mudcrutch - Wikipedia · Mudcrutch (album) - Wikipedia · New York Times, April 20, 2008 (transcribed at The Petty Archives) · Mudcrutch's self-titled album - Ultimate Classic Rock

Petty made three albums under his own name: Full Moon Fever (1989), Wildflowers (1994) and Highway Companion (2006). Full Moon Fever was cut mostly in Mike Campbell's garage studio with Jeff Lynne co-producing, with guests including George Harrison and Roy Orbison; Stan Lynch was the only Heartbreaker who didn't take part. Wildflowers, produced by Rick Rubin, actually features most of the Heartbreakers, with Steve Ferrone on drums. Highway Companion was a small affair made by Petty, Campbell and Lynne, with Petty even playing drums.

Full Moon FeverWildflowersHighway CompanionThe Band

Sources: Full Moon Fever - Wikipedia · Wildflowers (Tom Petty album) - Wikipedia · Highway Companion - Wikipedia

The Traveling Wilburys were a supergroup formed in Los Angeles in 1988 by George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty. It started when Harrison needed a B-side for a single; the song they made, 'Handle with Care', was judged too good to waste, so they recorded a whole album. They posed as half-brothers, with Petty as Charlie T. Wilbury Jr. Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 (1988) went triple platinum in the US and won a Grammy, and Vol. 3 followed in 1990 as a four-piece without Orbison.

Traveling WilburysHandle with Care

Sources: Traveling Wilburys - Wikipedia

Greatest Hits (1993) is the easiest door in: it covers the band's first run of hits and adds 'Mary Jane's Last Dance'. From there, Damn the Torpedoes (1979) is the classic Heartbreakers record, Full Moon Fever (1989) is the polished solo breakthrough, and Wildflowers (1994) is the album many fans call his best. For something deeper, the Live Anthology box shows how strong the band was on stage.

Greatest HitsDamn the TorpedoesFull Moon FeverWildflowersMary Jane's Last DanceMusic

Sources: Greatest Hits (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers album) - Wikipedia · RIAA Gold & Platinum database - Tom Petty

In the RIAA database, Greatest Hits holds the RIAA's highest award, Diamond, which it reached in 2015. Full Moon Fever is 5x Platinum, Damn the Torpedoes and Wildflowers are each 3x Platinum, and Into the Great Wide Open is 2x Platinum. Hard Promises, Southern Accents and the Playback box set are each Platinum.

Greatest HitsFull Moon FeverDamn the TorpedoesWildflowersInto the Great Wide OpenHard PromisesSouthern Accents

Sources: RIAA Gold & Platinum database - Tom Petty · Greatest Hits (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers album) - Wikipedia

In 1979 ABC Records, which distributed Petty's label, was sold to MCA, and his contract went along with it. Petty argued he couldn't be handed to a new label without his consent; MCA sued, and in May 1979 he filed for bankruptcy as a way to get out of the deal. The fight ended with Petty signing to Backstreet Records, an MCA subsidiary, and Damn the Torpedoes came out on Backstreet that October.

Damn the TorpedoesBusiness & legal

Sources: Damn the Torpedoes (album) - Wikipedia · Tom Petty - Wikipedia

In early 1981 MCA planned to sell the next Heartbreakers album, Hard Promises, at $9.98, a dollar above the usual $8.98 list price. Petty objected publicly, and ideas like holding back the album or titling it 'Eight Ninety-Eight' were floated. MCA gave in and kept the price at $8.98, and Hard Promises went on to reach the Top Ten and go platinum.

Hard PromisesBusiness & legal

Sources: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Wikipedia · Tom Petty - Wikipedia

Yes. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers went into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002, their first year of eligibility, and Jakob Dylan presented them. Six members were inducted: Tom Petty, Mike Campbell, Benmont Tench, Ron Blair, Stan Lynch and Howie Epstein.

The Band

Sources: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Rock & Roll Hall of Fame · Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Wikipedia

The Recording Academy credits him with three Grammy wins from 18 nominations. He won with the Traveling Wilburys for Vol. 1 (Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal), won Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for 'You Don't Know How It Feels', and won Best Long Form Music Video for Runnin' Down a Dream. Other honors include a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (1999), Billboard's Century Award (2005) and MusiCares Person of the Year (2017).

You Don't Know How It FeelsTraveling WilburysAwards & honors

Sources: Tom Petty - GRAMMY.com · List of awards and nominations received by Tom Petty - Wikipedia · Tom Petty - Wikipedia

Runnin' Down a Dream is Peter Bogdanovich's documentary about the band, running about four hours and tracing the story from Mudcrutch through the 30th-anniversary show in Gainesville in September 2006. It premiered at the New York Film Festival in October 2007 and won the Grammy for Best Long Form Music Video. A companion book of the same name, credited to Petty and Bogdanovich and edited by Warren Zanes, was published by Chronicle Books in 2007.

Books & filmsRunnin' Down a Dream (film)

Sources: Runnin' Down a Dream (film) - Wikipedia · Tom Petty - GRAMMY.com

Yes. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers played the halftime show at Super Bowl XLII on February 3, 2008, at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, the game where the Giants beat the Patriots. The band did four songs: 'American Girl', 'I Won't Back Down', 'Free Fallin'' and 'Runnin' Down a Dream'.

Shows & setlistsAmerican GirlI Won't Back DownFree Fallin'Runnin' Down a Dream

Sources: Super Bowl XLII - Wikipedia

Tom Petty wrote most of the catalog himself, but Mike Campbell was his main co-writer, sharing credit on songs like 'Refugee', 'Here Comes My Girl' and 'You Got Lucky'. Jeff Lynne co-wrote much of Full Moon Fever, including 'Free Fallin'' and 'I Won't Back Down', and 'Runnin' Down a Dream' is credited to all three. Campbell also wrote for others, including Don Henley's 'The Boys of Summer'.

RefugeeHere Comes My GirlYou Got LuckyFree Fallin'I Won't Back DownRunnin' Down a DreamFull Moon Fever

Sources: Mike Campbell (musician) - Wikipedia · Free Fallin' - Wikipedia · I Won't Back Down - Wikipedia · Runnin' Down a Dream (song) - Wikipedia

Petty and Jeff Lynne wrote 'Free Fallin'' together. It was the first song they finished for Full Moon Fever, and it reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1990. Petty said it wasn't about a particular person but came from what he saw driving along Ventura Boulevard, which runs through the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles. Reseda, which the song names, is a Valley neighborhood near Tarzana and Encino.

Free Fallin'Full Moon Fever

Sources: Free Fallin' - Wikipedia · Reseda, Los Angeles - Wikipedia

Besides singing, Petty played guitar, harmonica, bass and keyboards. Rickenbacker guitars became a trademark from 1979 on, and he also often played Fender Telecasters, a 1964 Stratocaster that belonged to Mike Campbell, and a 1964 Gibson Dove acoustic. On Highway Companion he even played drums.

Highway CompanionGuitars & gear

Sources: Tom Petty - Wikipedia · Highway Companion - Wikipedia

Buried Treasure was Tom Petty's weekly radio show on XM, which started in the mid-2000s and later aired on SiriusXM's Deep Tracks channel. Each hour he played rare and classic records from his own collection and talked about them. SiriusXM later launched a Tom Petty Radio channel (November 2015) that carries the show, and members of the official fan club can stream past episodes through tompetty.com.

MusicEvery Buried Treasure playlist

Sources: SiriusXM to offer extended block of Tom Petty's Buried Treasure (press release, Feb 11, 2009) · Tom Petty - Wikipedia · Tom Petty - official site

Yes. The official site is tompetty.com, which has news, music, photos, video, a Radio page linking to SiriusXM's Tom Petty Radio, and the Tom Petty Nation fan club. Official records and merchandise are sold through its store at store.tompetty.com. This fan archive is not affiliated with the official site or the estate.

Music

Sources: Tom Petty - official site

The vault has been opened steadily: An American Treasure (2018) collected outtakes, rarities and live tracks, and The Best of Everything (2019) gathered hits from across his career. Wildflowers & All the Rest (October 2020) added the songs left off the original Wildflowers plan, plus home recordings and live versions, and reached No. 5 on the Billboard 200. Since then have come Finding Wildflowers and Angel Dream (both 2021), Live at the Fillmore 1997 (2022) and a deluxe Long After Dark (2024).

WildflowersMusicMudcrutch

Sources: Tom Petty - Wikipedia · An American Treasure - Wikipedia · Wildflowers & All the Rest - Wikipedia · Angel Dream - Wikipedia · Tom Petty - official site

Pack Up the Plantation: Live! (MCA, November 1985) is the first proper live album, mostly recorded at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles, with Stevie Nicks guesting on two songs. The Live Anthology (November 2009) is a four-disc set of recordings from 1978 to 2007, produced by Petty, Campbell and Ryan Ulyate. Live at the Fillmore 1997 (November 2022) comes from the band's 20-night run at the Fillmore in San Francisco and is full of covers.

Shows & setlistsMusic

Sources: Pack Up the Plantation: Live! - Wikipedia · The Live Anthology - Wikipedia · Live at the Fillmore 1997 - Wikipedia

He did, now and then. He appeared as himself in the 1978 radio-station comedy FM, had a cameo as a character called Stanky in Made in Heaven (1987), and played the Bridge City Mayor in Kevin Costner's The Postman (1997). On TV he showed up on It's Garry Shandling's Show and The Simpsons, and from 2004 to 2009 he voiced Lucky Kleinschmidt, Luanne's boyfriend and later husband, on King of the Hill.

Sources: Tom Petty - Wikipedia · FM (film) - Wikipedia · Made in Heaven (1987 film) - Wikipedia · The Postman (film) - Wikipedia · Lucky Kleinschmidt - Wikipedia

Gainesville renamed Northeast Park, at 501 NE 16th Avenue near where Petty grew up, as Tom Petty Park and dedicated it on his birthday, October 20, 2018; a historical marker was added in 2024. The University of Florida held its first Tom Petty Day at the October 15, 2022 home football game against LSU. Since 2017, Gator crowds have sung along to 'I Won't Back Down' between the third and fourth quarters of home games.

I Won't Back DownThe Petty map

Sources: Tom Petty Park - City of Gainesville · Tom Petty's family and fans gather to name park in his honor - Chicago Sun-Times · University of Florida Athletic Association to celebrate the first inaugural Tom Petty Day - tompetty.com