Tom Petty

Tom Petty is one of America’s great rock and roll artists. His work with The Heartbreakers, The Traveling Wliburys, and his solo career have all yielded many treasured classics that still receive heavy air play on classic rock stations. Tom Petty knew he wanted to be a musician when he met Elvis as a young boy in 1961. At only ten years old he began collecting rock music records.

Tom Petty started his musical career with a band called Mudcrutch, which was a popular local band in his hometown of Gainesville, FL but didn’t draw any national attention. Shortly after the band dissipated he formed Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers in 1976.

The band’s first album was released in 1977 and was self-titled. The album featured the single “Breakdown” and was only mildly successful in the US, but more popular in the UK. The second album You’re Gonna Get It was the band’s first top forty album and hosted the hit singles “I Need to Know” and “Listen to Her Heart.”

Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers became certified rock stars with the third album Damn the Torpedoes, going platinum. The album sold over two million copies and topped the chart with the hit singles “Don’t Do Me Like That,” “Here Comes My Girl” and “Refugee.” From this point on when Tom Petty released an album, the world took note.

The band enjoyed continued success over the five years with the albums Hard Promises, Long After Dark, and Southern Accents. Adding to the band’s list of hits were the singles “The Waiting” and “Don’t Come Around Here No More.”

It was around this time that Tom Petty began to become interested in some other side and solo projects. The band supported his curiosities and some members even worked with him on solo projects. One of the most notable projects he participated in was the legendary group The Traveling Wilburys.

The Traveling Wilburys was a lineup of rock legends, the band featured Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Roy Orbison, and Jeff Lynne. The superstar collaboration produced two albums: The Traveling Wilburys Volume One and Volume Three. (Volume two was never produced; the name of the second album was a nod to the massive collection of bootlegged recordings from the band.)

The Traveling Wilburys were known for the hits “Handle with Care” and “End of the Line.” Unfortunately the second album was missing the presence of Roy Orbison due to his passing. Today Petty still works with Dylan and Lynne.

In 1989 Petty released his first solo album. The album, Full Moon Fever went platinum five times in the US and topped the charts at number three. The album contained trademark hits like “I Won’t Back Down,” “Free Fallin’” and “Runnin’ Down a Dream.” “Runnin’ Down a Dream” had a creative video that was put into heavy rotation on the music channel MTV.

In 1991 Tom Petty joined back up with The Heartbreakers to release Into the Great Wide Open which featured the hit single of the same name. The video for the single was full of celebrities including Johnny Depp. The album also yielded another hit “Learning to Fly.”

Shortly thereafter the band released a greatest hits album that included two new songs, “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” and “Something in the Air.” This was to be the band’s last release with MCA records.

In 1994 Petty released another solo album with Warner Bros Records. The album was produced by the legendary Rick Rubin and was called Wildflowers. The album contained the singles “You Don’t Know How It Feels” and “You Wreck Me.” It sold over two and a half million copies, and went platinum three times.

Tom Petty has since released two more albums with The Heartbreakers: Echo and The Last DJ. Both albums hit the top ten on the charts. In 2006 Petty also released another solo album entitled Highway Companion which peaked at number four on the Billboard charts.

Tom Petty and his various works continue to be popular purchases on iTunes and other online music stores. “Free Fallin’” and “I Won’t Back Down” are the stores top downloads for the artist. Rhapsody also lists “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” as one of the most popular searches from Petty, proving that a musician does not have to be young and glamorous to enjoy success.