The band had a long string of hit singles, including "Breakdown", "American Girl" (both 1976), "Refugee" (1979), "The Waiting" (1981), "Learning to Fly" (1991), and "Mary Jane's Last Dance" (1993), among many others, that stretched over several decades of work.

While the heartland rock movement waned in the 1990s, the band remained active and popular, touring regularly until Petty's death in 2017, after which the Heartbreakers disbanded.

In 1970, he and fellow North Central Florida resident Mike Campbell (lead guitar) formed Mudcrutch, with Benmont Tench (keyboards) joining in 1972.

Initially, the Heartbreakers did not gain much traction in the U.S., although they achieved early success in the UK after playing "Anything That's Rock 'n' Roll" on Top of the Pops.

"[6] "Breakdown" was re-released in the U.S. and became a Top 40 hit in 1978, after word filtered back of the band's massive success in Britain, and perhaps more importantly after it featured on the extremely popular soundtrack to the 1978 film, FM.

Petty refused to be transferred to another record label and held fast to his principles, which led to his filing for bankruptcy as a tactic against MCA.

Although he was already extremely successful, Petty again ran into record company trouble when he and the Heartbreakers prepared to release Hard Promises (1981), the follow-up album to Damn the Torpedoes.

On their fifth album, Long After Dark (1982), bass player Ron Blair was replaced by Howie Epstein (formerly of Del Shannon's backing band), giving the Heartbreakers their lineup until 1991.

[clarification needed] The recording was not without problems; Petty became frustrated during the mixing process and broke his left hand when punching a wall.

The band's live capabilities were also showcased when Bob Dylan invited the Heartbreakers to join him on his True Confessions Tour through Australia, Japan and the U.S. (1986) and Europe (1987).

In 1989, Petty released his debut solo album Full Moon Fever, which included five singles ("I Won't Back Down", "Runnin' Down a Dream", "Free Fallin'", "A Face in the Crowd" and "Yer So Bad"), and was accompanied by a tour with the Replacements.

Two years later, the Heartbreakers released Into the Great Wide Open, produced by Jeff Lynne, who had worked with Petty in the Traveling Wilburys.

Two notable tracks are a "solo" version of Petty's 1981 duet with Stevie Nicks, "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around", and the song "Waiting for Tonight", which features vocals by the Bangles.

In 1996, Petty reunited with the Heartbreakers and released a soundtrack to the film She's the One starring Cameron Diaz and Jennifer Aniston, titled Songs and Music from "She's the One".

Curt Bisquera, not an official member of the group, was the drummer on most of the album, with Ringo Starr substituting on one track and Ferrone playing on two others.

The band was still officially a four-piece (Petty, Campbell, Tench and Epstein), augmented by Ferrone on drums and Scott Thurston on various guitars, lap steel and ukulele.

Additionally, Stevie Nicks joined the band onstage during the first eight concerts as well as subsequent second-leg dates to perform various songs from the Heartbreakers' catalog.

On September 21, 2006, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers received the keys to the city of Gainesville, Florida, where he and his bandmates either lived or grew up.

"[9] From July 2006 until 2007, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio featured an exhibit of Tom Petty items.

In April that year, the members of Petty's previous band, Mudcrutch—Petty, Tench, and Campbell, along with Randall Marsh and Tom Leadon—released a Mudcrutch album.

[10] The band released Hypnotic Eye on July 29, 2014, and archive recordings from their Playlist box set Nobody's Children and Through the Cracks digitally in 2015.

Following premature media reports of his death, Petty died at the UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica, California.

[17] That same month, it was announced that Campbell (along with Neil Finn) had joined Fleetwood Mac to replace lead guitarist Lindsey Buckingham.

Campbell wrote a demo version of the track "The Boys of Summer" and showed it to Petty, who both felt it did not fit Southern Accents, the album they were working on at the time.

[20] Henley collaborated with Campbell and Lynch for his 1989 album The End of the Innocence, with the two Heartbreakers producing it alongside the likes of Danny Kortchmar and Bruce Hornsby.

In 1986, Bob Dylan wrote and recorded the track "Band of the Hand" as the theme song for the Paul Michael Glaser film of the same title.

For Volume III, only Campbell and Petty contributed, the latter performing a duet with Cash on a cover of "I Won't Back Down".

The first was 1989's Full Moon Fever, which included his signature tune, "Free Fallin'", as well as "I Won't Back Down", later covered by Johnny Cash, "Runnin' Down a Dream" and Gene Clark's Byrds classic "I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better".

[35] He was also outspoken on the current state of the music industry and modern radio stations, a topic that was a center concept of the lyrics of his 2002 album The Last DJ and its respective limited edition DVD.