Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were an American rock band from Gainesville, Florida. Formed in 1976, the band originally comprised lead singer and rhythm guitarist Tom Petty, lead guitarist Mike Campbell, keyboardist Benmont Tench, drummer Stan Lynch and bassist Ron Blair. In 1982, Blair, weary of the touring lifestyle, departed the band. His replacement, Howie Epstein, stayed with the band for the next two decades. In 1991, Scott Thurston joined the band as a multi-instrumentalist—mostly on rhythm guitar and second keyboard. In 1994, Steve Ferrone replaced Lynch on drums. Blair returned to the Heartbreakers in 2002, the year before Epstein's death. The band had a long string of hit singles including "Breakdown", "American Girl", "Refugee", "The Waiting", "Learning to Fly", and "Mary Jane's Last Dance", among many others, that stretched over several decades of work.
Echo is the tenth studio album by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Released in April 1999, the album reached number 10 on the Billboard 200 aided by singles "Free Girl Now", "Swingin'" and "Room at the Top", which hit numbers 5, 17 and 19 respectively on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks in 1999. The album was the band's last collaboration with producer Rick Rubin, and was also the last to feature contributions from longtime bassist/vocalist Howie Epstein, who died of a heroin overdose in 2003. Despite still being a member of the band, Epstein is missing from the album's cover photo because he failed to show up for the photo shoot, and Petty ordered it to commence without him. It also marks the first to feature longtime touring member Scott Thurston. Echo was certified Gold by the RIAA in July 1999, only three months after it was released. Echo is the only Heartbreakers' album to feature a lead vocal from another member of the band, namely lead guitarist Mike Campbell on "I Don't Wanna Fight".
The Last DJ is the 11th studio album by American rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. The title track, "Money Becomes King", "Joe" and "Can't Stop the Sun" are all critical of greed in the music industry, which led to a song boycott by some radio stations.
"Rebels" is a song by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. It appeared on the 1985 album Southern Accents and was released as a single in the same year. Although it only reached #74 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart, it fared much better on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart, where it peaked at #5.
Long After Dark is the fifth studio album by American rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, released November 2, 1982, on Backstreet Records. Notable for the MTV hit "You Got Lucky", the album was also the band's first to feature Howie Epstein on bass and harmony vocals. Epstein's vocals are prevalent throughout the album and from that point on, became an integral part of the Heartbreakers' sound.
"Mary Jane's Last Dance" is a song written by Tom Petty and recorded by American rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. It was recorded while Petty was recording his Wildflowers album and was produced by Rick Rubin, guitarist Mike Campbell, and Petty. The sessions would prove to be the last to include drummer Stan Lynch before his eventual departure in 1994. This song was first released as part of the Greatest Hits album in 1993. It rose to No. 14 on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming Petty's first Billboard top-20 hit of the 1990s, and also topped the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart for two weeks. Internationally, the song reached No. 2 in Portugal and No. 5 in Canada.
Unchained, also known as American II: Unchained is the second album in Johnny Cash's American Recordings series. It was released on November 5, 1996, by American Recordings. Like all of Cash's albums for American Recordings, Unchained was produced by Rick Rubin. The album received a Grammy for Best Country Album and Cash was nominated for Best Male Country Vocal Performance for his version of "Rusty Cage."
"Refugee" is a song recorded by American rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, was released in January 1980 as the second single from their album Damn the Torpedoes, and peaking at No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. The song is in compound AABA form.
Mudcrutch was an American musical group from Gainesville, Florida, whose sound touched on southern rock and country rock. They were first active in the 1970s and reformed in 2007, and are best known for being the band that launched Tom Petty to fame.
"Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" is a song recorded by Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and released as the first single from Nicks' debut solo album Bella Donna (1981). The track is the album's only song that was neither written nor co-written by Nicks. Written by Tom Petty and Mike Campbell as a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers song, Jimmy Iovine, who was also working for Stevie Nicks at the time, arranged for her to sing on it. Petty sang with Nicks in the chorus and bridge, while his entire band played on the song with the exception of Ron Blair, who was replaced by bassist Donald "Duck" Dunn for the recording.
Pack up the Plantation Live! is a concert film featuring Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. It was filmed at two concerts at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles, California on August 6 & 7, 1985 during their Southern Accents Tour. It has yet to be released on DVD.
"Here Comes My Girl" is a song written by Tom Petty and Mike Campbell, and recorded by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, their third single from their breakthrough hit 1979 album, Damn the Torpedoes. It peaked at number 59 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 on May 24, 1980.
"Don't Come Around Here No More" is a song written by Tom Petty of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Dave Stewart of Eurythmics. It was released in February 1985 as the lead single from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' Southern Accents album.
"Jammin' Me" is a song by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, co-written by Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, and Mike Campbell. The heartland rock tune first appeared on the band's 1987 album Let Me Up , and was later included on Petty's 'best of' albums Playback and Anthology: Through the Years.
"I Should Have Known It" is a song by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers from their 2010 album Mojo. It was included on Petty's 2019 posthumous greatest hits album The Best of Everything. The song has been described as a great rocker with a riff in Led Zeppelin's style.
"Southern Accents" is the fourth track from the Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers album of the same name. The song was also released as the B-side to "Rebels" and it was included on the compilation The Best of Everything.
"You Wreck Me" is a song by American musician Tom Petty, the fourth track on his second solo studio album, Wildflowers (1994). The song was released as the second single from the album and became a concert staple. While the song did not chart on the US Billboard Hot 100, it did peak at number two on the Album Rock Tracks chart.
"It's Good to Be King" is a song by American rock singer-songwriter Tom Petty, released as the third single from his 1994 album Wildflowers. It peaked at No. 68 on the Billboard Hot 100, and No. 6 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart.
The Best of Everything is a 2019 greatest hits album with recordings made by Tom Petty, with his backing band The Heartbreakers, as a solo artist, and with Mudcrutch. It was released on March 1.
"Surrender" is a song by American rock band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. The song has been recorded multiple times over the years but has never been included on a studio album. The song was first released in 2000 as a radio single from the compilation Anthology: Through the Years, and then a live version was available on The Live Anthology. A studio recording from the Damn the Torpedoes sessions was made available on the reissue of the album in 2010. In 2018, a version originally recorded in 1976 was released on the deluxe version of An American Treasure.
