Petty, Tom

Thomas Earl Petty (born October 20, 1950) is an American musician. more...

Biography

Tom Petty, known in his early years as "Tommy", was born in Gainesville, Florida and grew up in Northeast Gainesville. As a teen-aged, amateur musician he often practiced at home with friends and sometimes even in the family owned fall-out shelter located in his back yard. Petty is a graduate of Gainesville High School. Petty did not have any musical aspirations until Elvis Presley came to Ocala, Florida, 25 miles south of Petty's hometown, to work on a movie; and Petty went down there to watch him. After working with his early bands The Sundowners, The Epics, and Mudcrutch with ace drummer Randall Marsh, (which also included future Heartbreakers members Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench) he began his recording career with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers when the band broke onto the national music scene with their 1976 self-titled debut album. Still, it took America a full year to catch up to the album. "Breakdown" was re-released to radio and became a Top 40 hit in 1977 after word filtered back the band was creating a firestorm in England.

Their 1978 second album You're Gonna Get It! proved the debut album's intensity was no fluke. Marking the band's first gold album, it features the singles "Listen To Her Heart" and "I Need To Know". Shortly after its release the band was dragged into a legal dispute when ABC Records was sold to MCA Records. Petty refused to simply be transferred to another record label without his consent. He held fast to his principles for nine long months, which eventually led to him filing for bankruptcy.

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