Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers

American band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers was formed in 1976 by Tom Petty, Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench. In the period from 1982 to 2002 the line-up was changed a lot, but these three musicians are the constant members of the band. They met while playing in the group Mudcrutch, and in 1975 they released the first single. It did not manage to hit the charts and soon the band was disbanded. Thus the core trio of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers was created. Soon the new band started working on their debut self-titled album: Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers was released in 1976. The musicians gained popularity in the UK in no time, however they became successful in the USA a bit later. Such songs as Anything That's Rock 'n' Roll and Breakdown are considered to be classical compositions nowadays, and American Girl is still often broadcasted on various radio stations.

In 1978 Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers released the second studio work titled You're Gonna Get It! It was their first record that was certified Gold. The band was gaining popularity and in 1979 the musicians issued their third album Damn the Torpedoes which pretty soon went triple Platinum. Composition Don't Do Me Like That peaked at number 10 in Billboard Hot 100, and it became the band’s first very successful song. Short before the release of their new album, Tom Petty appealed to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’s recording company: he did not want them to raise the price for the following record. The company weighed the pros and cons and decided to leave the old price. As the result Hard Promises (1981) turned out to be strong and successful and later it was certified Platinum. When Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were recording Hard Promises, John Lennon was to appear in the same studio to work on his own record. However they did not manage to meet because of John’s tragical death. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers wanted to pay tribute to British musician, so they etched “WE LOVE YOU JL” on the master copy of Hard Promises. Nowadays all the vinyl copies of that album have that phrase. In 1985 Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers issued their first live album Pack Up the Plantation: Live! The band’s bright performances were noticed and in 1986 they were invited by Bob Dylan to join him in his tour True Confessions in Australia, Japan and the US and in 1987 they jointly performed in Europe.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers started their career in a very confident way that predetermined their future success. During the years of creativity that band gained a huge fan base and won numerous awards, including a Hollywood Walk of Fame star. In 2002 Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were inducted into the famous Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which is extremely important for the musicians. In spite of all the awards, the band keeps on developing, and in 2010 they released a new album titled Mojo. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers members' skills allow them to create in a free manner, and the original sound and stylistics will be highly enjoyed by the band’s old fans and by those music lovers, who are not familiar with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers music yet.