Thomas Earl Petty (born October 20, 1950 in Gainesville, Florida) is an American musician. Petty is a graduate of Gainesville High School. Petty did not have any musical aspirations before Elvis Presley visited his hometown. After working with his early bands The Sundowners, The Epics, and Mudcrutch (which also included future Heartbreakers members Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench) he began his recording career with Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers when the band broke onto the national music scene with their 1976 self-titled debut album. Still, it took America a full year to catch up to the album. "Breakdown" was re-released to radio and became a Top 40 hit in 1977 after word filtered back the band was creating a firestorm in England.
Their 1978 second album You're Gonna Get It! proved the debut album's intensity was no fluke. Marking the band's first gold album, it features the singles "Listen To Her Heart" and "I Need To Know". Shortly after its release the band was dragged into a legal dispute when ABC Records, Shelter's mother company, was sold to MCA Records. Petty refused to be simply transferred to another record label without his consent. He held fast to his principles for a long nine months, which eventually led to him filing for bankruptcy.
After the dispute was settled, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers released their third album Damn the Torpedoes ( 1979) that rapidly became triple-platinum. It includes "Refugee", their US breakthrough single.
Though he was at a peak of popularity, Petty ran into record company trouble again when he and the Heartbreakers prepared to release Hard Promises ( 1981)," the follow-up to "Damn the Torpedoes." MCA wanted to release the record at the list price of 9.98, which was a high price at the time. Petty refused to comply to their wishes, threatening to withhold the album from the label and organizing a fan protest that forced the company to release the record at 8.98. Hard Promises became a Top Ten hit, going platinum and spawning the hit single "The Waiting."