![]() ![]() An out-of-court settlement was reached later with Shelter, and Petty and the Heartbreakers went into the studio to record the album that propelled them to superstar status. Finding himself $500,000 in debt, Petty declared bankruptcy in mid-1979 to prevent further prosecution then signed a $3 million contract with a small, MCA-affiliated label called Backstreet Records. Damned the Torpedoes and Contract ProblemsĪBC sold Shelter Records back to MCA, and Petty declared himself a free agent, prompting a lawsuit against him by MCA and Shelter that prevented him from signing with another label. Lack of a clear media identity, though, quickly took a backseat to the string of contract and legal hassles that began to plague Petty after the second album ’s release. Many young, guitar-oriented rock bands drawing media attention were mislabeled as part of the punk movement filtering across the Atlantic from England, and the Heartbreakers were no exception. In the disco-infested American music scene of 1978, the driving, jangling guitars of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were hard to classify. club circuit, regularly drawing wall-to-wall crowds at such venues as the famed Whiskey A Go Go. “American Girl, ” a hit for the band in England in 1976, was also the first of Petty ’s songs to be covered by another artist, Petty idol and former Byrds leader Roger McGuinn.īy the time of the release of the band ’s second album, 1978 ’s You ’re Gonna Get It!, Petty and the Heartbreakers were the hottest band on the L.A. The band ’s eponymously titled debut album was released in 1976 on Shelter -now owned by ABC -and featured such Petty staples as “American Girl ” and “Breakdown, ” which became his first Top 40 single in the United States. One.Īddresses: Record company -Warner Bros. Selected awards: Grammy Award, 1989, for Traveling Wilburys, Vol. Played in various Gainesville, FL, bands, including the Epics and Mudcrutch guitarist and vocalist with the Heartbreakers, 1975 - group released self-titled debut LP on Shelter Records, 1976 performed at Live-Aid concert, 1985 recorded and performed with Traveling Wilburys, 1988 - solo recording artist, 1989. 1973, wife ’s name, Jane children: Adria, Kim. For the Record …īorn October 20, 1950, in Gainesville, FL son of an insurance salesman married, c. The quintet sparked together and decided to form a band with Petty as the frontman, calling themselves Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. ![]() One afternoon in 1975, Petty reunited in a demo session with Campbell and Tench and two other musicians he knew from Gainesville -bassist Ron Blair and drummer Stan Lynch. recording studio while working on their first album. ![]() ![]() After sending a demo tape around, Mudcrutch signed with an MCA label, Shelter Records. Went West With MudcrutchĪt 17 Petty quit high school to go on the road with Mudcrutch, ending up in Los Angeles in the early 1970s in search of a record contract. Part of the Mudcrutch line-up -guitarist Mike Campbell and keyboardist Benmont Tench -would later become members of the Heartbreakers. catalogue, and by 14 he was playing with various Gainesville bands, including a bar band called the Epics and, ultimately, a country-rock band known as Mudcrutch. Petty learned to play on a guitar purchased from a Sears, Roebuck & Co. I didn ’t want anything to fall back on because I was not going to fall back. “And that, ” related Petty, “was the end of doing anything other than music with my life. ” The next day young Petty traded his slingshot for a friend ’s collection of Presley and Little Richard records. “ didn ’t have much to say to us, ” Petty recalled in Rolling Stone, “but to a kid at an impressionable age, he was an incredible sight. He met Elvis Presley when the King of Rock and Roll came to Gainesville in 1961 to shoot the film Follow That Dream. Though his rise to rock stardom was anything but easy, his late 1980s association with other rock music legends as part of the Traveling Wilburys, as well as his hugely successful 1989 solo release, Full Moon Fever, cemented his place in rock history.īorn the son of an insurance salesman on October 20, 1950, in Gainesville, Florida, Tom Petty seemed destined for a future in rock and roll from the age of 11. For nearly two decades, Petty, along with his band, the Heartbreakers, has won audiences with consistently insightful and exciting albums and energetic live shows. Unlike many other aspiring musicians, Petty ’s long rock and roll road has led to fame, wealth, millions of albums sold, a Grammy Award, and a hard-earned reputation as one of rock ’s most enduring stars and accessible songwriters. Like many American boys growing up in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Tom Petty was first inspired to pick up a guitar after seeing rock and roll icon Elvis Presley perform. Damned the Torpedoes and Contract Problems ![]()
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