On a mid-October day, a legend was declared born. His name was Tom Petty and he was no ordinary child. While the other children wanted to stay in the house and read, or go outside and play sports, all Petty wanted to do was stay inside and play or listen to music. His love for rock n’ roll music started from such a young age that it is truly no wonder why Petty became a superstar.   

Early Life: 

Ever since Tom Petty was a youngster, he showed an over whelming amount of interest in music. What really made him start to fall in love with it was at age ten when he met Elvis. Since Petty lived in Gainsville, Florida, something like that was life changing to him. It even got to the point that he dropped out of high school at age seventeen to play bass guitar and try and pursue his dream of one day being in a band (Wikipedia). His father, Earl Petty, did not agree with this choose though and ended up regularly verbally and physically abusing Petty. His mother on the other hand, Kitty (Avery), loved him very much and supported Tom Petty through every rough patch. Needless to say, that Tom and his mother were very close (Wikipedia). Tom Petty was not an only child though. He had a brother named Bruce and they were also very close.  Though he did go to Gainesville High School, Petty worked at the University of Florida as one of the grounds keepers, but never actually attended college there. While he was the grounds keeper at The University of Florida, he planted a tree that is now acknowledged as the Tom Petty Tree.   

The Works of a Rock Star: 

In 1976 Petty formed a band named Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers that lasted until 1987. The bands single “Depot Street” ended up getting produced by Sheltered Records, but sadly ended up failing charting. Though their third album alone “Damn the Torpedo’s”, sold nearly two million copies (Wikipedia). The band was just getting even more popular as the years went on. After “The Heartbreakers” split in 1987, Petty still wanted to pursue music. Petty joined George Harrisons Group called Traveling Wilburys in 1988 to continue his passion for music. This band also included Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, and Jeff Lynne (Wikipedia). It seemed each band Tom Petty was in got him closer to the final successes of his life. People were starting to know his name, so he did what most stars do and decided to go solo. He came out with his first solo album called Full Moon Forever which had hit tracks such as “I Won’t Back Down”, “Free Fallin”, and “Runnin’ Down a Dream”. Most of these songs are still relevant even to this day.   

Almost everyone around the world loved Tom Petty and still does. Because of his great success, in life it is not hard to see why in 2002 he was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 1991 Petty signed with Warner Brothers Records and was there until he died in early October of this year of cardiac arrest.  Because of all Tom Petty’s feats, it is not unpredictable that though he may be dead and gone, his music will stay in the hearts of many.