Tom Petty was born on October 20, 1950 in Gainesville, Florida. Tom Petty’s interest in rock and roll music began at age 10 when he met Elvis Presley.

In the summer of 1961, his uncle, Earl Jernigan, was working on the Elvis Presley movie “Follow That Dream,” and he invited Tom to come down and see it. Tom Petty immediately became an Elvis Presley fan and soon swapped his beloved Wham-O slingshot for a box of Elvis LPs. He listened to Elvis records non-stop for years, then the Beatles, and then Tom began his career as an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He released his first single called ‘Up in Mississippi’ in 1971.

He is the lead singer of the rock band ‘Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ (1976 -) and is also a member of ‘Mudcrutch’ (2008 -). For a brief period (1988 – 1991) he was a member of the group ‘Traveling Wilburys’ under the identity of ‘Charlie T. Wilbury, Jr’. The band featured other big names like Dylan and McCartney.

Tom has recorded a ton of hit singles, many of which are still played on classic rock radios such as’ Runnin ‘Down a Dream’, ‘An American Girl’ and ‘I Won’t Back Down’.

His music, and of course most notably his greatest hits, have become increasingly popular with the younger generation. He also continues to host sold-out shows on his current tour dates.

Tom Petty is also a vocal critic in the modern recording industry.

Tom Petty has been releasing albums for most of his career with his band, ‘The Heartbreakers’. He has occasionally released solo works, such as ‘Highway Companion’, where he performed most of the backing music himself. However, the members of ‘The Heartbreakers’ have played on each of his solo albums and the band has always been supportive of him when on tour.

He also toured with ‘Mudcrutch’ in 2008. In November 2008, ‘Mudcrutch’ released ‘Extended Play Live’, which is an EP recorded during the band’s tour to promote their debut album ‘Mudcrutch’.

On February 3, 2008, ‘Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ performed at the Super Bowl halftime show. It was a spectacular show, which was consistently well received.

Tom Petty first appeared in a movie in 1978, when he had a little-known role on ‘FM’ (a musical movie). She later had a small role in 1987’s ‘Made In Heaven’ (a tribute to ‘Queen’).

He has also appeared in several episodes of ‘It’s Garry Shandling’s Show’ in the period from 1987 to 1990, acting as one of Garry Shandling’s neighbors. Petty has also appeared on another Shandling show; ‘The Larry Sanders Show’, as final guests. In that episode, Petty was kicked off the show and almost got into a fight with Greg Kinnear; I also think it looks a bit like a phenomenon that could come out in such situations.

Petty also appeared as the mayor of Bridge City in the 1997 film “The Postman,” which was directed by and starred Kevin Costner. And if anyone has not seen ‘The Postman’, I can recommend the movie.

In 2002 he appeared on ‘The Simpsons’ in the episode called ‘How I Spent My Strummer Vacation’ (and no, it’s not because I misspelled it – the episode is actually called Strummer). In the episode, he acted as Homer Simpson’s tutor in the art of lyrical writing. They are composing a song about a drunk girl who drives down the street while worried about the state of the public schools. What a fun thing to write about, but what else could you write about in an episode of ‘The Simpsons’?

Homer actually succeeds as a performer, but this infuriates the other stars of the show and, as usual, everything goes totally wrong.

Petty also has a role as the voice of ‘Elroy Kleinschmidt’ on the animated show ‘King of the Hill’.

In 2007, ‘Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ made a documentary about his life called’ Runnin ‘Down A Dream’.

Among many other awards and honors, Tom Petty was honored with 19 Grammy Award nominations and in 1999, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Personally, I find him incredibly interesting because I find his music captivating and because despite his high age he is still able to catch the youth of today. He may not be the most handsome, but he sure is a very interesting performer.

I am also one of the young men, mentioned above, who are looking for their music even though it actually belongs to my grandparents’ generation.