Tom Petty
עודכן: לפני 4 ימים
Here are 35 facts about Tom Petty, the singer, guitarist, songwriter and producer:
(Source: NME)
1. He was born Thomas Earl Petty on October 20, 1950, in Gainesville, Florida.
2. His love for rock 'n' roll officially began in the summer of 1961, when he was only 10, then he met none other than Elvis Presley, on the set of a film. He was simply fascinated by him and has since begun to obsessively listen to his songs.
3. He received music lessons from fellow Gainesville musician Don Felder, later of the "Eagles". Felder recalled teaching him guitar, although Petty remembered Felder showing him how to work out songs on piano.
4. As a teenager he played with "The Epics", before becoming the bassist and singer in Gainesville's "Mudcrutch". The band lasted until 1975 and included Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench, who would later accompany him in "The Heartbreakers".
5. His first marriage to his high school sweetheart, Jane Benyo, lasted 22 years. They have two daughters from this marriage. In 2001 he married Dana York.
6. After moving to Los Angeles in the early 1970s, "Mudcrutch" disbanded before even releasing an album - but guitarist Mike Campbell and keyboardist Benmont Tench who played with Tom in the band would become members of "The Heartbreakers" and accompanied Petty for four decades.
7. His band shared its name with New York punk group "The Heartbreakers", formed in 1975 by Johnny Thunders and Jerry Nolan with Richard Hell. The New Yorkers played CBGB and joined the "Sex Pistols" on the 1976 Anarchy tour. Despite the potential confusion, both bands kept the name.
(Photo: ABC/Shelter Records)
8. Petty appeared eight times as a musical guest on "Saturday Night Live".
9. His 2002 album "The Last DJ" criticises the music business. His battles with record companies began much earlier: on May 23, 1979, he filed for bankruptcy to escape his Shelter Records contract after the label changed hands to MCA.
10. In early 1981 he refused to release his album "Hard Promises" at MCA after the company asked to price it at $ 9.98, $ 1.00 more than the regular list price of $ 8.98. Petty even considered renaming the album to "Eight Ninety-Eight", but eventually MCA decided to back down.
11. Stevie Nicks found the title "Edge of Seventeen" in a conversation with Jane Benyo, mishearing "at the age of seventeen" as "edge of seventeen". The song itself was shaped by the death of her uncle and the murder of John Lennon.
(Photo: George Rose)
12. In 1984, Mike Campbell offered him an instrumental demo built with a synthesizer and drum machine. Petty passed on it for the band's album. Don Henley added lyrics and a vocal melody, turning it into "The Boys of Summer".
13. On the morning of May 17, 1987, just as Petty and his family were having breakfast, his California home caught fire. Authorities determined it was an arson. Petty was deeply shaken by the incident.
14. Tom Petty and George Harrison were really good friends. In 1988 they even co-founded the supergroup "Traveling Wilburys" with Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, and Bob Dylan.
15. MCA initially rejected his 1989 solo debut, "Full Moon Fever", because its executives did not hear any hits. It was released after a management change and earned five-times-platinum certification in the United States. Although it is a solo album, several Heartbreakers contributed, most prominently Mike Campbell.
16. When he recorded the hit "I Won't Back Down" with George Harrison, he had a terrible cold. George Harrison ran quickly to the store, bought ginger, boiled it, and let Petty breathe the steam. This opened his sinuses long enough for him to record the take that went into the album.
17. A significant number of films included his songs in their soundtrack. In two of them, the characters even sang them. The first, Catherine Baker Martin, the senator's daughter in the movie "The Silence of the Lambs," sang "American Girl", and the second, Jerry Maguire sang "Free Fallin'" while driving.
18. In 1994, after Stan Lynch's departure, Dave Grohl played drums with "The Heartbreakers" on "Saturday Night Live", performing "You Don't Know How It Feels" and "Honey Bee". Petty offered him a permanent place, but Grohl declined. He had already recorded the material that became the debut album by "Foo Fighters".
19. In 1996, "Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers" released the soundtrack album "Songs and Music from the Motion Picture She's the One", for Edward Burns' film starring Jennifer Aniston. Alongside Petty's material, it included covers of songs by Beck and Lucinda Williams.
20. Petty has also appeared in several films, including Kevin Costner's "The Postman."
21. In 2002 he entered the "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame" with his band "The Heartbreakers".
22. He also voiced the character of Elroy "Lucky" Kleinschmidt in the hit series "King of the Hill."
23. The song "Runnin' Down a Dream" from the album "Full Moon Fever" was the official theme song of both the NBA Finals in 2006 and 2008. Petty also performed the song with the "Heartbreakers" at the halftime of Super Bowl XLII in 2008.
24. In 2007, Petty reunited "Mudcrutch" with Tom Leadon and Randall Marsh, alongside Campbell and Tench. Their first studio album arrived in 2008 and was followed by live shows; a second album and another tour followed in 2016.
25. In 2014, "Hypnotic Eye", the 13th and final studio album by "Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers", became his first No. 1 on the US Billboard 200. It sold 131,000 copies in its first week in the United States.
26. In 2015 it became public that Petty and Jeff Lynne had received co-writing credits on Sam Smith's "Stay With Me", following an amicable agreement over the similarity between its chorus and "I Won't Back Down". Petty described it as a musical accident.
27. On February 10, 2017, he was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year, recognizing his music, defense of artists’ rights and charitable work.
28. His last performance was part of the tour to mark the 40th anniversary of "Heartbreakers". It was held on September 25, 2017 - about a week before his death.
29. Petty passed away on October 2, 2017, about two weeks before his 67th birthday.
30. During his glorious career, Tom Petty has released no less than 20 studio albums. 13 with "The Heartbreakers", two with "Traveling Wilburys", two with "Mudcrutch" and three more as part of his solo career.
31. According to Universal Music's 2016 announcement, Petty and "The Heartbreakers" had sold more than 80 million records worldwide since their 1976 debut.
32. His archive continued to open after his death. "Wildflowers & All the Rest" arrived in 2020, including ten songs from the "Wildflowers" sessions left off the original album. The live set "Live at the Fillmore 1997" followed in 2022, and an expanded "Long After Dark" in 2024. These are archival releases, not newly recorded studio albums. Separately, "Petty Country: A Country Music Celebration of Tom Petty" appeared in 2024. It is a tribute album featuring other artists covering his songs, rather than a newly recorded Petty studio album.
33. In 2025, guitarist Mike Campbell published "Heartbreaker: A Memoir", written with Ari Surdoval, recounting their decades together. That March, the restored and expanded version of Cameron Crowe's 1983 film "Heartbreakers Beach Party" reached Paramount+, bringing another piece of the band's archive back into view.
34. On September 16, 2026, "Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers" received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Americana Honors & Awards. Surviving members reunited at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium with Chris Stapleton on lead vocals, honoring the music nine years after Petty’s death.
35. In 2026, the "Origins 1971-1978" box set was announced to mark the 50th anniversary of "The Heartbreakers", with release scheduled for November 6, 2026. It traces the journey from "Mudcrutch" to the band's early years and includes previously unreleased archival material. At the time of this update, it remains a forthcoming release.