Tom Petty, The #100 Artist of the Rock Era

 "one of the greatest musicians of the late 20th century"

"legendary music..."

"A great innovator."

"A huge catalog of great songs."

"He blessed us with his music and personality."

"His music will be around forever."

"Four decades of some of the finest rock music ever recorded."

"A true American rock & roll legend."

"A genius artist and composer."

"A huge influence on an entire generation."

Tom Petty was born October 20, 1950 in Gainesville, Florida.  When he was 10, Tom's uncle, who was working on the set of the Elvis Presley movie Follow That Dream, invited Tom to watch the set and introduced him to Elvis.  From that moment on, Petty was inspired to be a rock and roll singer.  Tom got a further boost of motivation when he saw the Beatles' famous first performance on The Ed Sullivan Show.  Petty formed the group the Epics in which he played bass guitar and dropped out of high school when he was 17.

However, since music doesn't pay well unless you're a star, Petty was a member of the grounds crew at the University of Florida and also worked as a gravedigger to pay the bills.  The Epics became known as Mudcrutch, and included guitarist Mike Campbell and keyboardist Benmont Tench, but the group was unable to generate popularity outside of their native Gainesville. 

 

Petty married Jane Benyo in 1974.  After Mudcrutch split up, Petty reluctantly agreed to pursue a solo career. Tench formed his own group, whose sound Petty appreciated. Eventually, Petty and Campbell teamed up with Tench, bassist Ron Blair, and drummer Stan Lynch to form the Heartbreakers. Their self-titled debut album generated two minor hits which paved the way for Petty.  The first did not chart originally and even when re-released a year later, peaked at #40.  This is "Breakdown".

 

The debut has since gone Gold.  The group's follow-up release, You're Gonna' Get It!, did fairly well but lacked the punch of their debut.  So Petty and the group went to work on their third album.  In 1979, the album Damn the Torpedoes provided the impetus to get the group over the top.  They scored their first career Top 10 (#3 in Canada, #10 in the United States) with "Don't Do Me Like That".

 

Damn the Torpedoes went to #2 on the Album chart and has sold over three million copies.  Petty's next release was arguably his best career song, #2 in Canada and #3 in New Zealand, but as it stalled at #15 in the U.S., one of The Top Unknown/Underrated Songs of the Rock Era*.  "Refugee".

 

Another song in that club is this single, which only peaked at #59.  We believe it is good enough that it should have reached the Top 10--"Here Comes My Girl".

Later that year, Petty and the Heartbreakers got great exposure in a benefit concert for Musicians United for Safe Energy at Madison Square Garden.  The group's song "Cry To Me" was featured on the resulting album, No Nukes.

 

Petty and the Heartbreakers released the album Hard Promises in 1981.  It contained a minor hit and sold one million copies but was well short of the popularity of Damn the Torpedoes.  "The Waiting" reached #1 on the Rock chart, but only #19 overall.

 

 In 1982, Petty and the Heartbreakers joined Stevie Nicks for the single "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around", which was nominated for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal at the Grammy Awards.  It was a #3 smash in the U.S. that peaked at #5 in Canada.

 

Bassist Howie Epstein replaced Ron Blair for the 1982 album Long After Dark, which featured the hit "You Got Lucky", another #1 on the Rock chart.

 

Long After Dark, which went Gold, was Petty's third consecutive Top 10 album.  The group performed at Live Aid in Philadelphia in 1985.  Later that year, they released Southern Accents, which has sold over one million copies to date.   "Don't Come Around Here No More" won an MTV Video Music Award for Best special effects and was nominated for four other awards, including Video of the Year, Viewer's Choice, and Best Concept Video.  It peaked at #15, #2 on the Rock chart.

Petty and the Heartbreakers joined Bob Dylan on his tour and also played dates with the Grateful Dead in 1986 and 1987.   The Heartbreakers released the album Let Me Up (I've Had Enough) in 1987.  Petty wrote "Jammin' Me" with Dylan, another #1 on the Rock chart that stalled at #18 overall:

The album was Petty's sixth straight Gold album and second consecutive Platinum release.  Tom appeared in the movie Made in Heaven as well as several episodes of It's Garry Shandling's Show from 1987-1990, playing himself as one of Shandling's neighbors.  Petty also appeared in Shandling's other television series, The Larry Sanders Show.

In 1988, Petty teamed with George Harrison, Dylan, Roy Orbison, and Jeff Lynne to form the Traveling Wilburys, which released two very successful and critically-acclaimed albums. That work as part of a separate group scored points for the Wilburys but does not count towards Petty's solo career.

 

The following year, Petty released the album Full Moon Fever.  Although the album was promoted as a solo album, Campbell played on and co-produced the album along with Petty and Lynne.  Another of Petty's signature songs is "I Won't Back Down", another #1 on the Rock chart that reached #12 overall in the U.S. and #5 in Canada.

 

Full Moon Fever has now sold over five million copies and was a Top 10 album in most countries.  This great song stalled at #23, one of The Top Unknown/Underrated Songs of the Rock Era*--"Runnin' Down A Dream".  

 

The album was nominated for Album of the Year and Petty was nominated for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male for "Free Fallin'".  It was his sixth #1 on the Rock chart, with the last three all on Full Moon Fever, #7 overall, and #4 in New Zealand and #5 in Canada.

 

In 1991, Petty and the Heartbreakers released the album Into the Great Wide Open, another co-produced by Lynne.  "Learning To Fly" also went to #1 on the Rock chart.

 

Into the Great Wide Open was another of the group's best, selling over two million copies in the U.S. alone.  The title song was nominated for Best Male Video at the MTV Video Music Awards.  The standout song on the album, though, was "Out In The Cold", which never made the Top 100--it's easily another of The Top Unknown/Underrated Songs*.

The album was nominated for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group and "Learning To Fly" was nominated for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group at the Grammys.

 

The group them recorded two new songs for a Greatest Hits album, one of them being "Mary Jane's Last Dance".  Petty earned another MTV Video Music nomination for Best Male Video, with the song jumping to #1 on the Rock chart and #14 overall, another Top/Unknown/Underrated Song*.

 

The compilation sold over 12 million copies.  "American Girl" is another favorite of Petty fans.

 

Petty signed a deal with Warner Brothers Records and released the 1994 album Wildflowers.  The album was nominated for Best Rock Album and Petty won a Grammy for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male.  He was also nominated for Best Male Video at the MTV Video Music Awards for the single "You Don't Know How It Feels", his 10th #1 on the Rock chart.

The album sold over three million copies in the U.S. alone and reached #5.  Petty and the Heartbreakers then recorded music for the soundtrack album She's the One.  

In 1996, Petty received the George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin Award for Lifetime Musical Achievement from UCLA and the Golden Note Award from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).  But his personal life was falling apart, beginning with his divorce from Jane that year.

Tom appeared in the movie The Postman in 1997.  Petty and the Heartbreakers received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1999.  Tom had struggled with heroin addition since his divorce, but finally in 1999, he went to a treatment center.  

In 1999, the group released the album Echo, another Gold album.  "Room At The Top" was nominated for a Grammy for Best Rock Song and Echo was nominated for Best Rock Album.

In 2001, Petty and the Heartbreakers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Following the September 11 tragedy, Petty and the Heartbreakers performed "I Won't Back Down" at a benefit concert for victims of the mass murder.  In 2002, Petty released The Last DJ, which went to #9 on the U.S. album chart.

Petty received the Billboard Century Award on 2005.

In 2006, Petty recorded "Square One" for the movie Elizabethtown, which was nominated for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture at the Grammys.  Later that year, the band received the keys to their hometown of Gainesville.

Petty released the album Highway Companion, supported by a tour with the Heartbreakers.  He was nominated for Best Rock Album and Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance for "Saving Grace" at the Grammy Awards.

Runnin' Down a Dream, the documentary about Petty's career, was released in 2007.  In 2008, Petty and the Heartbreakers performed at halftime of Super Bowl XLII and toured North America that summer.

In 2009, Petty released the box set The Live Anthology, a collection of live recordings from 1978-2006.  Petty won a Grammy for Best Music Video, Long Form, for "Runnin' Down A Dream".

The following year, the group released Mojo, a #2 smash on the album chart that was nominated for Best Rock Album at the Grammys.

In 2012, the group performed around the world, including performances in Europe for the first time in 20 years.  In 2014, the group released the album Hypnotic Eye, which debuted at #1.  Hypnotic Eye gave Petty another Grammy nomination for Best Rock Album.  The group performed throughout the U.S. on their 40th Anniversary Tour.

On October 2, 2017, Petty was found unconscious at his home, unable to breathe and in cardiac arrest.  Paramedics resuscitated him and took him to the UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica, California, but Tom died that night.  A memorial service was held at the Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine in Los Angeles on October 16.  The L.A. County Medical Examiner concluded that Petty had died of a combination of opioids fentanyl, oxycodone, acetylfentanyl and despropionyl, sedatives temazepam and alprazolam and citalopram (an antidepressant).

In 2018, the box set An American Treasure was released.  Later that year, the city of Gainesville renamed Northeast Park, where Tom often visited in his youth, as Tom Petty Park.

Petty was nominated for 15 Grammy Awards, winning two, and won two MTV Video Music Awards among seven nominations.  He had just three career Top 10 hits, but it is his collection of great album tracks and success on the Rock chart, where he landed 25 hits and 10 #1's that earns him a spot in The Top 100 Artists*.