STAR OF THE WEEK - Thomas Earl Petty


DOB: October 20, 1950
Sign: Libra
Birthplace: Gainesville, Florida, USA
Occupation: Musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, actor

Achievements:

· Petty recorded a number of hit singles with the Heartbreakers and as a solo artist. In his career, he sold more than 80 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time.

· In April 1996, Petty received the UCLA's George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin Award for Lifetime Musical Achievement. The next month, Petty won the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers' Golden Note Award.

· Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1999, for their contribution to the recording industry.

· In December 2001, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in New York.

· Petty received the Billboard Century Award, the organisation's highest honour for creative achievement, at a ceremony on December 6, 2005, during the Billboard Music Awards.

Interesting facts:

· His interest in rock and roll music began at age 10 when he met Elvis Presley. Of that meeting with Elvis, Tom Petty said, "Elvis glowed."

· In a 2006 interview, Petty said that he knew he wanted to be in a band the moment he saw the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show.

· He dropped out of high school at age 17 to play bass with his newly formed band.

· Teamed up with Bob Dylan, Beatle George Harrison, Jeff Lynne from Electric Light Orchestra and Roy Orbison in the group ‘The Traveling Wilburys’.

· One of his first guitar teachers was Don Felder, a fellow Gainesville resident, who would later join the Eagles.

· As a young man, Petty worked briefly on the grounds crew for the University of Florida, but never attended as a student. An Ogeechee lime tree that he planted while employed at the university is now called the Tom Petty tree (Petty stated that he did not recall planting any trees). He also worked briefly as a gravedigger.

· Petty also overcame a difficult relationship with his father, who found it hard to accept that his son was "a mild-mannered kid who was interested in the arts" and subjected him to verbal and physical abuse on a regular basis.

· Petty owned and used a number of guitars over the years. From 1976 to 1982, his main instrument was a sunburst 1964 Fender Stratocaster. He also used a number of Rickenbacker guitars from 1979 onward; the Rickenbacker 660/12TP was designed by Petty (specifically the neck) and featured his signature from 1991 to 1997.

· His first appearance in film took place in 1978, when he had a cameo in FM. He later had a small part in 1987's Made in Heaven and appeared in several episodes of It's Garry Shandling's Show between 1987 and 1990. He was also featured in Shandling's other show, The Larry Sanders Show, as one of the story within a story final guests.

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