Happy Birthday to Tom Petty! Born October 20, 1950 Thomas Earl Petty was born in Gainesville, Florida. As a kid he met Elvis Presley on a movie set and knew right then that music was what he wanted to do. He started playing guitar, formed bands in high school, and eventually co-founded Mudcrutch. After the group didn’t take off the way they hoped, he and some of the same musicians formed Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in 1976. Their debut album came out that year, and songs like “Breakdown” and “American Girl” introduced a sound that mixed classic rock and roll with a sharp, straightforward style. Over the next four decades the Heartbreakers became one of the most consistent and respected bands in rock. Hits kept coming: “Refugee,” “Don’t Do Me Like That,” “The Waiting,” “Don’t Come Around Here No More,” “Free Fallin’,” “I Won’t Back Down,” “Learning to Fly,” “Mary Jane’s Last Dance,” and many more. Petty also worked outside the band. He released solo albums, joined the Traveling Wilburys with George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, and Jeff Lynne, and later reunited with Mudcrutch. In 2002 he and the Heartbreakers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2008 they played the Super Bowl halftime show. Tom Petty died on October 2, 2017, at age 66, just a week after finishing the Heartbreakers’ 40th anniversary tour. He left behind a catalog full of honest, well-written songs that still connect with people. Born on this day in Gainesville, he became one of rock’s most enduring voices. 📸: Tim Mosenfelder