TOM PETTY: The late rock legend would've been 67 today
Tom Petty would have celebrated his 67th birthday today (Friday).
Of course, we can't celebrate this year since he passed away on October 2nd after going into cardiac arrest at his home in Malibu, California. An autopsy was performed, but the results have yet to be released.
Petty left behind his second wife, Dana, and two daughters by his first wife Jane: Adria and AnnaKim Violette.
- Born Thomas Earl Petty in Gainesville, Florida on October 20th, 1950.
- Developed his interest in rock and roll at age 10 after meeting Elvis Presley through his uncle, who was working on the set of the movie Follow That Dream, which was shooting in nearby Ocala, Florida.
- Knew he wanted to be in a band the moment he saw The Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show and became a singer and mostly rhythm guitarist.
- His first band was called The Epics. It evolved into Mudcrutch, which morphed into Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, who released their self-titled debut album in 1976.
- Petty and the Heartbreakers released 13 studio albums. He released three solo albums, plus two with The Traveling Wilburys and two with Mudcrutch, which re-formed in 2007.
- Solo and with the Heartbreakers, Petty had 10 Top 20 singles (and 16 Top 40) on the Billboard Hot 100, and 34 on Billboard's rock charts. Among the best known are "The Waiting," "You Got Lucky," "Don't Come Around Here No More," "Learning to Fly" and "Free Fallin'," which was his highest-charting hit, peaking at number-seven.
- He also had two Top 20 duets with Stevie Nicks, "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" and "Needles and Pins"
- He won three Grammy Awards -- two with the Heartbreakers and one with the Wilburys -- and three MTV Video Music Awards.
- He and the Heartbreakers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.