Tom Petty
Tom Petty
Thomas Earl "Tom" Pettyis an American musician, singer, songwriter, multi instrumentalist and record producer. He is best known as the lead singer of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, but is also known as a member and co-founder of the late 1980s supergroup the Traveling Wilburys, and his early band Mudcrutch...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionRock Singer
Date of Birth20 October 1950
CityGainesville, FL
CountryUnited States of America
The first time I tried to write was when I was 14, after I got an electric guitar. I put a song together, and it wasn't that bad! The writing came natural to me.
We enjoy playing with each other, which I think is a pretty important part of this. If we didn't, we'd have given it up a long time ago. The idea when we started was to take five people and keep 'em together no matter what and see what we could get out of it, and we've pretty much stuck to that plan.
This award comes at a particularly nice time as the Heartbreakers and I go into the thirtieth year of our career. I'm very honored that Billboard has acknowledged me with this award.
like a deer in the headlights, frozen in real time and I'm losing my mind, it's time to move on
The great thing about the Wilburys was that none of us had to take the heat by ourselves. I was just a member of the band. Nobody felt like he was above anybody else. We had such a good time.
You have four years to be irresponsible here. Relax. Work is for people with jobs. You'll never remember class time, but you'll remember time you wasted hanging out with your friends. So, stay out late. Go out on a Tuesday with your friends when you have a paper due Wednesday. Spend money you don't have. Drink 'til sunrise. The work never ends, but college does.
I'm reaching there to try and find a theme. It's just a really nice collection of songs. I think it does have an underlying theme of time and what it does to you.
Excuse me if I have/some place in my mind/where I go time to time.
Yeah, the world would swing if I were king. Can I help it if I still dream time to time?
I ain't really sure, but it seems I remember the good times
We're rather fond of it and we think you'll like it, too.
When I go to see people, I always kind of hope they are going to play some kind of songs I know. So you've got to know your audience. It's kind of something that is a blessing and a curse in a way. You're obligated to play some of that stuff that people know, but I don't think that's all you have to do.
Making a record? You've got to have the song, then you create a record. I think it's the same with a live performance. If the material is strong, you're already 90% there. I always tell young people it's all about the music, the songs. Work on the songs, work on the songs, work on the songs.
Rock n' roll was one thing, and then they chopped off the 'roll' and called it 'rock,' which became a sort of umbrella term for anything with a guitar in it. Like hair bands. How could we possibly believe that? It's just gotten downright silly, to the point where now it's sort of become like professional wrestling.