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Quick Facts
- NAME: Tom Petty
- OCCUPATION: Songwriter
- BIRTH DATE: October 20, 1950 (Age: 62)
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Gainesville, Florida
- Full Name: Thomas Earl Petty
- ZODIAC SIGN: Libra
Best Known For
Tom Petty is best known as the front man for the well-known band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. He pursued a solo career in 1989, recording hit songs like "Free Fallin'" and "Runnin' Down a Dream."
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Tom Petty - Appeal of Rock (1:52)
Tom Petty - Appeal of Rock
Tom Petty trying to explain the unexplainable: the incredible allure of rock 'n' roll.
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Play NowTom Petty. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 10:48, May 23, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/tom-petty-201299.
Tom Petty. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/tom-petty-201299 [Accessed 23 May 2013].
"Tom Petty." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 23 2013, 10:48 http://www.biography.com/people/tom-petty-201299.
"Tom Petty," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/tom-petty-201299 [accessed May 23, 2013].
"Tom Petty," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/tom-petty-201299 (accessed May 23, 2013).
Tom Petty [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 23] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/tom-petty-201299.
Tom Petty, http://www.biography.com/people/tom-petty-201299 (last visited May 23, 2013).
Tom Petty. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/tom-petty-201299. Accessed May 23, 2013.
3, the band's second album. (Orbison died of a heart attack in 1988.) The group won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals - a career first for Petty.
Reunited with the Heartbreakers, Petty and the band achieved commercial and critical success with Into The Great Wide Open (1991). Petty continued to divide his time between recording with the band and his solo efforts,
producing several more albums. His next solo album, 1994's Wildflowers, was considered one of his strongest recordings by critics. It has a laid-back, melancholy feel to it with the title track and "It's Good to Be King." Petty won the 1995 Grammy Award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance for "You Don't Know How It Feels."
Later Work
In 2001, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were recognized for their contributions to music with their induction into the Rock and Rock Hall of Fame. The group's latest album The Last DJ came out in 2002, criticizing the music industry. Critics were divided on this album with some calling it gutsy while others thought it sounded grouchy.
Petty's most recent recording was his 2006 solo album Highway Companion, which received mostly positive reviews. The song "Saving Grace" made an appearance on the rock and pop charts. That same year, Petty played several concert dates with the Heartbreakers to celebrate their 30-year anniversary as a group.
Married twice, Petty has two daughters with his first wife Jane. He married his second wife Dana York in 2001.
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