Thomas Earl Petty was an American rock musician, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He was one of the best-selling music artists of all time with more than 80 million records worldwide were sold.
Petty was born October 20, 1950, in Gainesville, Florida. When he was young, he had a difficult relationship with his father, who did not want him interested in arts. However, in the summer of 1961, at the age of ten, with his uncle help, he met Elvis Presley. After that meeting, he instantly became an Elvis Presley fan, and interested in rock and roll music. As a young man, Petty worked briefly on the grounds crew for the University of Florida, but never attended as a student. He also worked briefly as a gravedigger. He
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In 1975, their only single album, “Depot Street” was failed to chart. After Mudcrutch split up, Petty and Campbell collaborated with Tench and members Ron Blair and Stan Lynch, resulting in the first lineup of the Heartbreakers.
In last 1970s and beginning 1980s, with the Heartbreakers, Petty was in new page of his career. Their first albums very soon became popular. Specially, the third album, Damn the Torpedoes, was sold about two million copies and their fourth album Hard Promises became a top-ten hit and going platinum. Their next albums continued releasing successfully. In 2014, their thirteen studio album Hypnotic Eye debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, becoming the first Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers album to ever top the chart.
Petty was also successful in his solo career. Even though, he just had three solo albums Full Moon Fever, Wildflowers, and Highway Companion, which were released in 1989, 1994’s, and 2006. All of his solo albums were popular and had hit songs such as I Won’t Back Down, Free Falling, You Don’t Know How It Feels, It’s Good to Be King, and Saving Grace. Specially, the second album, which was renewed label from his first album, produced by Rick Rubin, sold over three million