"I Want to Thank
Sean for keeping such a great site [gonegator.com] up and running while this one [tompetty
.com]
languished away. He does quite an amazing job."
Adria Petty
- December 2002
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BAND HISTORY '70s, '80s, '90s, '00s
Click decade for more information!
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1980
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- February - "Damn The Torpedoes" becomes a top ten album on the Billboard 200.
- February 21st - Tom Petty is featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.
- February 25 - "Damn The Torpedoes" goes Gold.
- February 27 - "Damn The Torpedoes" is the band's first to sell over one million copies and acheive Platinum status.
- The first album re-enters the Billboard Charts.
- March - "Damn The Torpedoes" tour is started in the UK.
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1981
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- May - Petty withheld the tapes of his fourth album, Hard Promises, sincd MCA was planning
to raise the list price to $9.98 on the US release. MCA backed down. The album was originally going to
be called $8.98.
- "Hard Promises" is released.
- June - 35 city "Hard Promises" tour kicks off in the US.
- July 14th - "Hard Promises" goes Gold.
- July 23 - Tom Petty on cover of Rolling Stone.
- August 10th - "Hard Promises" goes Platinum.
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1982
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- February - Ron Blair grows tired of touring. Replaced with Howie Epstein on Bass.
- September 1st - Howie Epstein plays his 1st show with the band in Santa Cruz, CA.
- November - "Long After Dark"
- December - European leg of tour starts with 5 dates in the UK.
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1983
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- January 4th - "Long After Dark" goes Gold.
- January 22 - US Leg of the "Long After Dark"
tour starts off in Phoenix, AZ.
- May - Produced by Tom Petty and backed by The Heartbreakers, Del Shannon's
"Drop Down And Get Me" is released.
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1984
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- October - TP breaks his left hand after hitting a wall out of frustration during the "Southern Accents" sessions.
The sessions were being done in his home studio.
Petty is admitted to Cedars-Sinai Hospital for surgery.
- October 12 - Damn The Torpedoes goes double platinum (sold over 2 million copies).
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1985
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- April - "Southern Accents" is released.
Produced by TP, Jimmy Iovine and Dave Stewart.
- May 24th - "Southern Accents" goes Gold.
- June 6th - Southern Accents tour starts off in St. Louis, MO.
- July 13th - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers perform at the Live Aid charity concert at the JFK Stadium
in Philadelphia, PA.
- September 13th - Tom Petty receives "Best Special Effects In A Video" award
for "Don't Come Around Here No More" at the 2nd annual MTV Video Music Awards.
- September 20th - "Southern Accents" goes Platinum.
- September 22nd - Band performs at the 1st Farm Aid concert in Champagne, IL.
- December - "Pack Up The Plantation - Live!" is released in the US. Produced by TP and Mike Campbell.
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1986
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- January - "Pack Up The Plantation - Live!" is released in the UK. Produced by TP and Mike Campbell.
- January 5th - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers backup Bob Dylan on the "True Confessions" tour. The band plays New Zealand, Australia and Japan.
- March - Bob Dylan and The Heartbreakers release theme song for the movie "Band Of The Hand". Produced by Tom Petty.
- June 6th - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers play with Bob Dylan at the "Conspiracy Of Hope Benefit" at the Forum in LA.
- June 9th - The US leg of the True Confessions tour starts off in San Diego, CA.
- October 13th - Tom Petty and Benmont Tench perform at the 1st annual Bridge School Benefit in Mountain View, CA.
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1987
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- Tom Petty makes short appearance in the motion picture "Made In Heaven" as Stanky. Neil Young and Ric Ocasek also have cameos.
- March 4th - Tom Petty obtains restraining order against B.F. Goodrich for using a song that sounded like "Mary's New Car".
- April 20th - "Let Me Up (I've Had Enough)" is released. Produced by TP and Mike Campbell.
- May 17th - Tom Petty's house was set on fire by an arsonist. $1 million damage to Tom Petty's estate in Encino.
- May 30th - The US Rock 'N Roll Caravan tour starts off in Houston, TX. The Georgia Satellites and Del Fuegos open.
- September - The band backs Bob Dylan again during his "Temples In Flames" tour of Europe. The tour started in Tel Aviv, Israel. Roger McGuinn was the opening act.
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1988
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- May - Tom Petty along with Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne form The Traveling Wilburys.
- October - The Traveling Wilburys release their debut album "Volume 1". The album does well on both the US and UK charts.
- December 4th - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers perform at the 2nd annual Bridge School Benefit in Oakland, CA.
- December 12th - Tom Petty attends a memorial for Roy Orbison.
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1989
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- April 24th - Tom Petty releases his 1st solo album, "Full Moon Fever". Produced by Tom Petty, Jeff Lynne and Mike Campbell.
- July - After playing Fiddler's Green in Greenwood Village, Colorado, Tom Petty and Paul Westerberg ended up down at the club Rock Island, where they played an unannounced set of rock oldies. "Petty was really digging that. I don’t think he’s had many chances to play a tiny little joint like that," Westerberg said later. "We thought we were going home and they pulled up to a bar and voila!"
- July 5th - The Strange Behavior tour starts off in Miami, FL.
- July 6th - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers are joined onstage by Roger McGuinn on the 2nd day of the tour. They play 4 Byrds songs.
- July 8th - Full Moon Fever hits it's peak position at #3 on the Billboard 200 Chart.
- September - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers are joined onstage by Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin at the 6th annual MTV Video Music Awards.
They perform "Free Fallin'" and "Heartbreak Hotel".
- October 28th - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers perform at the 3rd annual Bridge School Benefit in Mountain View, CA.
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BAND HISTORY '70s, '80s, '90s, '00s
Click decade for more information!
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