Conversations with Tom Petty

It's an oft-told story: A young Tom Petty lucks his way onto the movie set for Elvis' Follow That Dream. The lightning bolt that is rock'n'roll struck him and, at the moment, his future was defined. But, it was actuallythe arrival of The Beatles in 1964 that really turned Petty's head and convinced him that music was the way out of Gainesville, Florida for him and his friends.
At the tender age of fourteen, Petty and his garage-band crew started scoring paid gigs.By 1974, his band Mudcrutch was known across the southeastern United States. Not content to play bars and college dances their entire lives, the band set out for Los Angeles and landed a record deal the first day out.
But, it wasn't always a Cinderella story and throughout the years Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers earned their share of challenges and triumphs.
In 2002 Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

This is his story - in his own words.