Thomas Earl "Tom" Petty (born October 20, 1950) is a singer, songwriter, and guitarist. His hit singles have included "Don't Do Me Like That", "Refugee", "Runnin' Down a Dream", "The Waiting", "Don't Come Around Here No More", "I Won't Back Down", "Free Fallin'", "Mary Jane's Last Dance", "American Girl", "Learning to Fly" and "You Don't Know How It Feels", most of which remain heavily played on adult contemporary and classic rock radio. Petty is also a vocal critic of the modern recording industry and the disintegration of independent radio stations, and recorded an album on that theme,The Last DJ, in 2002.

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, 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. Petty has been managed by Tony Dimitriades since 1976.[4] On February 3, 2008, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers performed at the Bridgestone Super Bowl XLII Halftime show.