When Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers released their self-titled debut album in 1976, there were no indications that Petty would become one of the most important and successful figures in American Rock ‘n’ Roll for the next four decades. Initially lumped in with the Power Pop movement, Petty was eventually embraced by FM rock programmers and by the time of the band’s 1979 album DAMN THE TORPEDOS, he was a bona-fide Rock ‘n’ Roll star. Over the course of his career, he became one of the biggest selling music artists of all time, shifting more than 80 million in the process. Not only did Tom Petty win multiple Grammy and MTV awards, he also received a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame and was inducted – with The Heartbreakers – into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2001. Apart from all that success with his band as well as a solo artist, he was also a member of Pop/Rock supergroup The Traveling Wilburys (with George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne). Not bad for a skinny kid from Gainesville, Florida with big dreams…
