Thomas Earl (Tom) Petty (October 20, 1950 – October 2, 2017) as born in Gainesville, Florida, the first of two sons of Earl and Kitty Petty.
He was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer, and best known as the lead singer of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. He was also a member and co-founder of the late 1980s super group the Traveling Wilburys, with Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, Jeff Lynne and George Harrison.
His interest in rock and roll began at the age of ten when he met Elvis Presley on the set of the film Follow That Dream, which his uncle was working on, and invited Tom to watch the shoot. He instantly became an Elvis Presley fan. He later said that he knew he wanted to be in a band the moment he saw the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show and that the Rolling Stones inspired him by showing that musicians like him could make it in rock and roll. He dropped out of high school at 17 to play bass with his newly formed band, Mudcrutch.
After Mudcrutch split up, Petty reluctantly agreed to pursue a solo career. But eventually, Petty joined Mike Campbell, Benmont Tench, Ron Blair and Stan Lynch in the first line-up of the Heartbreakers. Their eponymous debut album gained some small popularity amongst American audiences, but achieved greater success in Britain. The single “Breakdown” was re-released in 1977, and peaked at number 40 in early 1978 after the band toured in the United Kingdom in support of Nils Lofgren.
In 1988, Tom joined the Traveling Wilburys, with Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, Jeff Lynne and George Harrison. The band’s first song, “Handle With Care”, was intended to be a B-side of one of Harrison’s singles, but was agreed to be far too good for that and so the group decided to record a full album, Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1. Their second album, cheekily titled Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3, as a response to a series of bootlegged studio sessions being sold as Travelling Wilburys Vol. 2, was recorded without the recently deceased Orbison.
In 1989, Petty released his first solo album Full Moon Fever, which featured hits “I Won’t Back Down”, “Free Fallin'” and “Runnin’ Down a Dream”. Although it was a solo album, several of the Heartbreakers and other well-known musicians participated in the recording.
Petty & the Heartbreakers reformed in 1991 and released Into the Great Wide Open, which was co-produced by Lynne and included the hit singles “Learning To Fly” and “Into The Great Wide Open”.
Petty recorded a number of hit singles and albums with the Heartbreakers and as a solo artist over the years, many of which are mainstays on adult contemporary and classic rock radio.
In 1999, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, for their contribution to the recording industry. Then in December 2001, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in New York.
On July 29, 2014, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ thirteenth studio album, Hypnotic Eye was released and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, becoming their first album to ever top the chart.
In his career, Petty sold more than 80 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time.
Tom Petty was found unconscious, not breathing and in full cardiac arrest at his home, on the morning of October 2, 2017. His death was incorrectly reported by the media that afternoon, although these reports were retracted after the Los Angeles Police Department announced that it had unfortunately indicated his death to the media before confirming it.
It was confirmed by his family and manager, later on the evening of October 2, 2017, that he had actually died, surrounded by family and friends, at the University of California-Los Angeles’ Santa Monica hospital, at 8:40 p.m. PDT.
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