Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Thomas Earl Petty (born October 20, 1950) is a popular American musician, known for his album-oriented, classicist rock'n'roll. He has also produced numerous hit singles, such as "American Girl", "Free Fallin'", "Into the Great Wide Open" and "Mary Jane's Last Dance", most of which remain heavily played on mainstream radio. Despite this success, Petty is also a vocal critic of the modern recording industry and the disintegration of independent radio stations (i.e. The Last DJ).

Petty has been supported by his band, The Heartbreakers, for the majority of his career. He has occasionally released solo work, as is the case with his most recent effort, 2006's Highway Companion, on which he performed most of the backing instrumentation himself. However, it should be noted that members of The Heartbreakers have played on each of his solo albums and the band has always backed him when touring in support of those albums.

Bio and pic from Wikipedia's article on Tom Petty