Tom Petty

Description

Thomas Earl "Tom" Petty (born October 20,1950) is a singer and guitarist. A prolific songwriter, he has also produced numerous hit singles, such as "American Girl", "The Waiting", "Free Fallin'", "I Won't Back Down", "Into the Great Wide Open", and "Mary Jane's Last Dance", most of which remain heavily played on mainstream radio. Petty is also a vocal critic of the modern recording industry and the disintegration of independent radio stations (e.g. The Last DJ). <p>Petty has been supported by his band, The Heartbreakers, for the majority of his career. He has occasionally released solo work, as is the case with his most recent effort, 2006's Highway Companion, on which he performed most of the backing instrumentation himself. However, members of The Heartbreakers have played on each of his solo albums and the band has always backed him when touring in support of those albums. In addition, Petty has had the same manager, Tony Dimitriades, since 1976. <p>Tom Petty, known in his early...