Person:Tom Petty (2)

Biographical Summary

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Thomas Earl Petty (October 20, 1950October 2, 2017) was an American musician and actor who was the lead vocalist and guitarist of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, formed in 1976. He previously led the band Mudcrutch, was a member of the late 1980s supergroup the Traveling Wilburys, and had success as a solo artist.

Petty had many hit records. Hit singles with the Heartbreakers include "Don't Do Me Like That" (1979), "Refugee" (1980), "The Waiting" (1981), "Don't Come Around Here No More" (1985) and "Learning to Fly" (1991). Petty's solo hits include "I Won't Back Down" (1989), "Free Fallin'" (1989), and "You Don't Know How It Feels" (1994). Solo or with the Heartbreakers, he had hit albums from the 1970s through the 2010s and sold more than 80 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. Petty and the Heartbreakers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. Petty was honored as MusiCares Person of the Year in February 2017 for his contributions to music and for his philanthropy.

In 2017, Petty died of a cardiac arrest, at the age of 66, one week after the end of the Heartbreakers' 40th Anniversary Tour and two weeks shy of his 67th birthday.

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1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} Tom Petty, a Mainstay of Rock With the Heartbreakers, Dies at 66, in The New York Times. (New York, New York)
   article by Jon Pareles, 03 Oct 2017.
2. ↑ Petty, Tom, in H. W. Wilson Co. Biography index: a cumulative index to biographical material in books and magazines. (New York, New York: H. W. Wilson Company, 1946-)
   1991.

   Reference List, Current Biography (Bio Ref Bank) Biography Reference Bank (H.W. Wilson), EBSCOhost (accessed October 12, 2017).

3. ↑ Tom Petty: 1950 - 2017, in Tom Petty Website
   2 Oct 2017.

   On behalf of the Tom Petty family, we are devastated to announce the untimely death of our father, husband, brother, leader and friend Tom Petty. He suffered cardiac arrest at his home in Malibu in the early hours of this morning and was taken to UCLA Medical Center but could not be revived. He died peacefully at 8:40PM PST surrounded by family, his bandmates, and friends.

4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1 4.2} Tom Petty, in Encyclopædia Britannica
   written by the editors of Encyclopædia Britannica, 3 Oct 2017.

   Tom Petty, in full Thomas Petty (born October 20, 1950, Gainesville, Florida, U.S.—died October 2, 2017, Santa Monica, California), American singer and songwriter whose roots-oriented guitar rock arose from the new-wave movement of the late 1970s and resulted in a string of hit singles and albums.
   
   At age 10, Petty was introduced by his uncle to Elvis Presley, who was filming Follow That Dream (1962) in Florida, where Petty grew up. Within two years Petty had taken up the guitar. He dropped out of high school to tour with his band Mudcrutch in the early 1970s. After arriving in Los Angeles, the band quickly disintegrated, but in 1975 Petty and two former members, Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench, joined Ron Blair and Stan Lynch to form Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. The band’s eponymous debut album, released in 1976, initially caused little stir in the United States, but the single “Breakdown” was a smash in Britain, and, when it was re-released in the U.S., the song made the Top 40 in 1978. Damn the Torpedoes (1979), featuring the hits “Don’t Do Me Like That” and “Refugee,” shot to number two, and, though the group’s success in the 1980s leveled off, there were several hits, including Petty’s duet with Stevie Nicks, “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” (1981), and the Heartbreakers’ “Don’t Come Around Here No More” (1985). The band also gained notice for its music videos.
   
   In 1984 Petty shattered his hand after punching a studio wall in frustration, but, to the surprise of doctors, he recovered to play guitar again. The Heartbreakers backed Bob Dylan on tour in 1986, and later Petty joined Dylan, former Beatle George Harrison, Roy Orbison, and Jeff Lynne (formerly of the Electric Light Orchestra) in the supergroup the Traveling Wilburys, with whom Petty garnered his first Grammy Award in 1989. That year Lynne produced Petty’s first solo album, Full Moon Fever, putting Petty back on the charts with the hit single “Free Fallin’.” This renewed popularity was followed in the 1990s with more group and solo albums, including the multimillion-selling Wildflowers (1994), which was presented as a solo album but featured contributions from the Heartbreakers, most notably guitarist Campbell, ever Petty’s essential collaborator.
   
   Petty’s divorce in 1996 from his wife of more than 20 years took a heavy toll on him psychologically and contributed to his descent into heroin use. That period of emotional anguish and ultimately introspection led to the creation of one of his most deeply personal albums, Echo (1999). In 2001 Petty remarried, with Little Richard performing the ceremony. The next year he and the Heartbreakers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and released The Last DJ, the title song of which was a scathing indictment of music industry greed. Petty’s third solo album, Highway Companion (2006), and the Heartbreakers’ blues-drenched Mojo (2010) followed. Hypnotic Eye, another Heartbreakers’ effort, topped the Billboard album chart in 2014.
   
   In 2008 Petty and the Heartbreakers reached another benchmark of exalted status as pop music icons by performing during the Super Bowl halftime show. Petty, who was known for his devotion not only to the roots of rock and roll but also to his own musical roots, reunited with Mudcrutch to produce new albums and undertake tours in 2007 and 2016. In October 2017, in the midst of celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Heartbreakers, Petty died after suffering full cardiac arrest in his home.

5. ↑ Complete birthname: Thomas Earl Petty