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| Birth Name(s) : Tom Petty |
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Full Tom Petty Biography
Thomas Earl "Tom" Petty (born October 20, 1950) is a singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His hit singles have included "Don't Do Me Like That", "Refugee", "Runnin' Down a Dream", "The Waiting", "Don't Come Around Here No More", "I Won't Back Down", "Free Fallin'", "Mary Jane's Last Dance" and "You Don't Know How It Feels", most of which remain heavily played on adult contemporary and classic rock radio. Petty is also a vocal critic of the modern recording industry and the disintegration of independent radio stations, and recorded an album on that theme - The Last DJ.
Their second album, You're Gonna Get It!, marked the band's first gold album and featured the singles "I Need To Know" and "Listen To Her Heart". Their third, Damn the Torpedoes, quickly went platinum. It includes "Don't Do Me Like That" and "Refugee", their breakthrough U.S. singles. During the album's ensuring supporting tour, Petty came down with tonsillitis, which caused a few concerts to be canceled. In February 1980 he had the tonsils removed, and the band was back on the road a few weeks later.
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers played "I Won't Back Down" at the America: A Tribute to Heroes benefit concert for victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks. The following year, they played Taxman, I Need You, and Handle With Care (joined for the last by Jeff Lynne, Dhani Harrison, and Jim Keltner) at the Concert for George in honour of Petty's friend and former bandmate George Harrison.
During the summer of 2007, Tom Petty reunited with his old bandmates Tom Leadon and Randall Marsh along with Heartbreakers Benmont Tench & Mike Campbell to reform his pre-Heartbreakers band Mudcrutch. The fivesome recorded a new album together scheduled for release during the first quarter of 2008. The disc will contain 18 old and new tracks. "We would play and then we would just talk about the old days," says Tom Leadon.
Tom Petty's first appearance in film took place in 1978, when he had a cameo in FM. He later had a small part in 1987's Made In Heaven, and appeared in several episodes of It's Garry Shandling's Show between 1987 and 1990, playing himself as one of Garry Shandling's neighbors. Petty also appeared in the 1997 movie, The Postman, directed by and starring Kevin Costner.
In 2002 he appeared on The Simpsons in the episode "How I Spent My Strummer Vacation". In it, he spoofed himself as a "tutor" to Homer Simpson on the art of lyric writing, composing a brief song about a sexy girl walking down the street concerned with budget problems in public schools. Later in the episode, he lost a toe during a riot.
Petty has been honored with 17 Grammy Award nominations since 1981. In that year he received his first nomination for "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" in the category of Best Rock Performance By A Duo or Group With Vocal. Petty earned a Grammy Award in 1989 for Best Rock Performance By A Duo or Group With Vocal for his work with the Traveling Wilburys. In 1994 he received another two Grammy Awards: Best Male Rock Vocal Performance (for "You Don't Know How It Feels") and Best Engineered Album (Non-Classical). Wildflowers also garnered a Grammy nomination for Best Rock Album.
In 1994, You Got Lucky, a Tom Petty tribute album featuring such bands as Everclear and Silkworm was released.
In 2002, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. On December 6, 2005, Petty received the Billboard Century Award for his lifetime achievements. The same year, Conversations with Tom Petty, an oral history/biography comprised of interviews conducted in 2004 and 2005 with Petty by music journalist Paul Zollo, was published (ISBN 1-84449-815-8).
In early 1981, the upcoming Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers album, which would become Hard Promises, was slated to be the next MCA release with the new list price of $9.98, following Steely Dan's Gaucho and the Olivia Newton-John/Electric Light Orchestra Xanadu (soundtrack) soundtrack. This so-called "superstar pricing" was $1.00 more than the usual list price of $8.98. Petty voiced his objections to the price hike in the press and the issue became a popular cause among music fans. Non-delivery of the album and naming it Eight Ninety-Eight were considered, but eventually MCA decided against the price increase.
His first marriage, to Jane Benyo, lasted 22 years. He spent most of those years working, on the road or in the studio. He has two daughters by that marriage. Since 2001 he has been married to Dana York, whom he first met years earlier when she came to one of his concerts.
In 1987, an arsonist set fire to Petty's house in Encino, California. The fire caused $1 million in damage but firefighters were able to salvage the basement recording studio and the original tapes stored there. The only other thing left was a Gibson Dove Acoustic Guitar that was very significant to Tom. Tom Petty later rebuilt his house in the exact same spot with the same style and everything. |
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