Tom Petty
| Tom Petty | |
|---|---|
Petty performing in June 2016
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| Born |
Thomas Earl Petty October 20, 1950 Gainesville, Florida, U.S. |
| Died | October 2, 2017 (aged 66) Santa Monica, California, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Complications of cardiac arrest |
| Other names |
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| Occupation |
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| Years active | 1970–2017 |
| Television | King of the Hill (2004–2009) |
| Spouse(s) |
Jane Petty (née Benyo) (m. 1974; div. 1996) Dana York (m. 2001) |
| Children | 2 |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | Rock |
| Instruments | |
| Labels | Shelter, Backstreet, MCA, Warner Bros., American, Reprise |
| Associated acts | Mudcrutch, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Traveling Wilburys, Stevie Nicks |
| Website | tompetty |
Thomas Earl "Tom" Petty (October 20, 1950 – October 2, 2017) was an American musician, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. Petty served as the lead singer of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. He was also a member and co-founder of the late 1980s supergroup the Traveling Wilburys, and his early band Mudcrutch.
Petty recorded a number of hit singles with the Heartbreakers and as a solo artist. In his career, he sold more than 80 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. In 2002, Petty was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He died, aged 66, of cardiac arrest on October 2, 2017.
Thomas Earl Petty was born October 20, 1950, in Gainesville, Florida, the first of two sons of Kitty (Avery) and Earl Petty. His interest in rock and roll music began at age ten when he met Elvis Presley. In the summer of 1961, his uncle was working on the set of Presley's film Follow That Dream in nearby Ocala, and invited Petty to come down and watch the shoot. He instantly became an Elvis Presley fan, and when he returned that Saturday, he was greeted by his friend Keith Harben, and soon traded his Wham-O slingshot for a collection of Elvis 45s. Of that meeting with Elvis, Tom Petty said, "Elvis glowed." In a 2006 interview, Petty said that he knew he wanted to be in a band the moment he saw The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show. "The minute I saw the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show—and it's true of thousands of guys—there was the way out. There was the way to do it. You get your friends and you're a self-contained unit. And you make the music. And it looked like so much fun. It was something I identified with. I had never been hugely into sports. ... I had been a big fan of Elvis. But I really saw in The Beatles that here's something I could do. I knew I could do it. It wasn't long before there were groups springing up in garages all over the place." He dropped out of high school at age 17 to play bass with his newly formed band.
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