Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers hailed from Gainesville, Florida before officially forming in Los Angeles and releasing their self-titled debut album. The album was a brand of rock that blended rhythm and blues, ringing guitars, keyboards and Petty's direct and extremely blunt vocal style. It took American until the follow-up release of 'Breakdown' in 1977 to catch on. The album became a top 40 hit only after word got back that the band was becoming well loved in the U.K. In 1978 the band released 'You're Gunna Get It!' marking the band's first gold album.

In 1979 Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers released 'Damn The Torpedoes' which gained triple platinum success and propelled the group into superstardom and arena headlining status. The band continued to produce album after album. The critically acclaimed 'Hard Promises' was released in 1981, followed by 'Long After Dark' in 1982. It was nearly three years before the band released 'Southern Accents' and followed it with a double live set titled 'Pack Up The Plantation-Live!' 1987 brought what would be the last album for Tom Petty with the Heartbreakers for a few years, 'Let Me Up (I've Had Enough)'