Tom Petty, the front man for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, began his music career in the early 1970’s by playing blues style rock in his hometown of Gainesville, Florida. The Heartbreakers debut album had two major hits that are now classics, “Breakdown” and “American Girl.” This album made them huge in not only the US but the UK as well. With all the other rock bands surfacing in the 70’s era, very few of them are still around today to be on tour more than 35 years later. Not only are Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers on tour but currently their concert tickets have sold out across the nation.

Thomas Earl Petty, born on October 20, 1950 did not have any musical inspirations until Elvis Presley visited his hometown. After performing with several bands with a multitude of different names, he finally settled with the Heartbreakers and they have written and produced more than 10 albums. Tom Petty has been nominated for 10 Grammy awards since 1981 and won three. He has performed with George Harrison, Bob Dylan and Roy Orbison in the Traveling Wilburys. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are one of the few rock bands that have earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and in 2002 the group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The group has had numerous triple platinum albums and continues to influence upcoming rock bands with such classics as; “Free Fallin,” “I Won’t Back Down,” “Learning to Fly,” and his duo with Stevie Nicks, “Stop Draggin’ my Heart Around.”

Tom Petty also has made huge contributions to such humanitarian organizations like Greenpeace, the National Veteran’s Foundation and AmFAR (the American Foundation for AIDS Research). Spanning the country playing classic rock for fans is what Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers have been successful at for more than 35 years and with their recent tour, that reputation is not about to waver.