Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Year:
2002
Inducted by:
Jakob Dylan
Category:
Performers

Tom Petty
Benmont Tench
Howie Epstein
Mike Campbell
Ron Blair
Stan Lynch

Introduction

Tom Petty made us all believe by singing about ordinary experience in an extraordinary way.

His vocals captured our soul with songs that sounded like hits the first time we heard them. He made his mark on music and our lives.

Jakob Dylan Inducts Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers

Jakob Dylan Inducts Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers at the 2002 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

Jakob Dylan Inducts Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers

00:03:55
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers Acceptance Speech

00:08:40
"American Girl"

00:04:14
"Mary Jane's Last Dance"

00:05:53
Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne induct George Harrison

00:04:45
"American Girl"

00:03:37

Hall of Fame Essay

2002

Bill Flanagan

It’s a rare thing to combine mainstream success with musical substance. To do it while fiercely standing up for personal principles - to the point of waging public war with your record company - is rarer. To do it for twenty-five years is flat-out remarkable.

A common reaction to the news that Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has been “They’re a great band, but aren’t they too young to qualify?” It’s a shock to realize that it has been twenty-five years since “Breakdown” and “American Girl.” Petty and the Heartbreakers have never stopped long enough to look back. They win new audiences with every record they make.