Tom Petty's career, like that of many musicians of his generation, was largely fired by Elvis Presley and the Beatles. In 1961 he followed the shooting of the King for the movie "Follow That Dream" near his hometown Gainesville/Florida at the invitation of his uncle who worked on the set and became his fervent admirer. Three years later the television appearance of the Beatles in the "Ed Sullivan Show" awakened in him the desire to form a band as well: "Yes, I was a big Elvis fan. But I saw something in the Beatles that I could do myself." Another three years later Petty dropped out of high school, Don Felder, who later became an Eagles member, was one of his guitar teachers.
Petty didn't become the second Clapton or even Hendrix, but he didn't have to, because he had a brilliant soloist at his side, Mike Campbell. Both had already worked together in the regionally quite successful band Mudcrutch, which then became Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. Petty quickly developed into a great songwriter with the voice that became his trademark - the self-titled debut (1976) with the three singles "Breakdown", "American Girl" and "Any Thing That's Rock'n'Roll" caused a sensation. "Damn The Torpedos" (1979) was sold in the States in lightening speed two million times and reached platinum status. Almost all successors were similarly successful, not to mention the great singles like "Learning To Fly", "Free Fallin'" or "Into The Great Wide Open".
