Tom Petty

USA, 1976–2017

American singer and songwriter (1950-2017) who led the Heartbreakers from 1976. 'American Girl', 'Free Fallin'' and 'I Won't Back Down' work in a direct, jangling rock idiom.

MusicRoots documents 3 artists who influenced Tom Petty and 1 artist Tom Petty influenced in turn. Every connection cites a published source.

Who influenced Tom Petty?

• The Byrds — The Heartbreakers' Rickenbacker chime descends straight from the Byrds — a debt Petty and McGuinn celebrated together on stage.
• Elvis Presley — The ten-year-old Petty met Elvis on a Florida film set in 1961 — the encounter he always cited as the moment music claimed him.
• The Beatles — Seeing the Beatles on Ed Sullivan showed Petty the way out — 'the idea of a band, a self-contained unit — that was the way'.

Which artists did Tom Petty influence?

• The War on Drugs — The third of the trinity, and the one Granduciel talks about as a model for how to run a band rather than how to write a song.