"Tom Petty needs no introduction. Raised in Florida, Petty dropped out of school at age 17 to pursue a music career, joining the band Mudcrutch, which dissolved soon after they relocated to Los Angeles. The young label Shelter Records, who has signed the band, agreed to record Petty as a solo act but he was reluctant and instead worked with several bands over the years. In 1975 Petty joined guitarist Mike Campbell, keyboardist Benmont Trench (from Mudcrutch), bassist Ron Blair and drummer Stan Lynch as part of the Heartbreakers, who released Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers in 1976. The band became popular in the U.K. and the U.S. followed, with ""Breakdown"" and ""American Girl"" quickly becoming hits. In 1978 the band released their sophomore record, You're Gonna Get It, and despite it being their first Top 40 album, they endured a setback when ABC (Shelter's parent company) was bought by MCA and Petty had to file for bankruptcy in 1979 due to contract problems.After settling into a contract with MCA imprint Backstreet, they released the breakthrough album, 1979's Damn the Torpedoes, which spawned the hit singles ""Don't Do Me Like That"" and ""Refugee."" When readying to release 1981's Hard Promises, Petty argued with the label about charging too much money for the record. Petty eventually got the price reduced and the album went platinum with the hit ""The Waiting."" Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers came together again for 1982's Long After Dark, after which Blair was replaced by Howie Epstein, which was followed by the hybrid of new wave, soul and psychedelia that is Southern Accents. After the band backed Bob Dylan and released another album, Petty joined the Traveling Wilburys in 1988 and then issued his first solo effort, Full Moon Fever, in 1989. ""I Won't Back Down,"" ""Runnin' Down a Dream"" and ""Free Fallin'"" were instant hits.In 1990 Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers released the iconic album Into the Great Wide Open and a greatest hits record followed two years later. Petty left MCA for Warner Bros. soon after its release and then issued his sophomore solo effort, Wildflowers, in 1994. Loaded with the hit singles ""You Wreck Me,"" ""It's Good to Be King"" and ""You Don't Know How it Feels,"" the album went triple Platinum. Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers reunited in 1996 and have since continued to release solid rock albums and tour the world."