Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Unleash Their Mojo

With a new album and tour these classic rockers show no sign of slowing down

By Elspeth Bridges

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers

Things are heating up this summer for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, who have been a band now for more than 30 years, and are releasing their twelfth album, Mojo on June 15. Mojo is the band’s first album of new material in eight years. In conjunction with the new album the group is also embarking on a four-month tour which started on June 1st in Denver, Colorado.

The band, which hails from Gainesville, FL has been together since 1976. Tom Petty, Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench originally formed the band Mudcrutch which later became Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. In 2008 Mudcrutch briefly came back together to release the band’s self titled album. Within the past 30 years of the band’s enormously successful career they have sold more than 60 million records. Also in 1999 Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers received a star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame and in 2002 the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2008 the band made an appearance at Super Bowl XLII to perform in the halftime show.

Peter Bogdanovich released a 2007 documentary on the band entitled Runnin’ Down a Dream. The four-hour documentary traces the band back as far as when it was still Mudcrutch up until the band’s 2006 30th anniversary. The Grammy-winning documentary shows past concert footage, as well as interviews with Dave Grohl, Johnny Depp, Stevie Nicks, and many others. The documentary was well received by critics and made its debut on European television on May 11th, 2010.

Already some of the songs from Mojo are available for listening on Entertainment Weekly’s website, EW.com, and on the band’s Myspace page. On May 15th the band performed two songs off their new album on the season finale of Saturday Night Live. The finale, hosted by Alec Baldwin, was the band’s eighth appearance on the show. The performance can be viewed on the band’s official website tompetty.com. Fans are also able to view two new official music videos, “I Should Have Known It” and “Something Good Coming,” on Youtube, MySpace and the band’s website.

The album has already received much praise. Rolling Stone’s David Fricke referred to the album as “One of the best [Tom Petty] has ever made with the band.” Parade Magazine describes the album as a “looser, bluesier album than any of the others.” The album is a blend of rock ‘n’ roll and country with some electric as well as acoustic blues. The fifteen track CD and vinyl is available for pre-order on the band’s official website.

To promote their new album the band has also kicked off a summer tour that will take the band throughout the United States and parts of central and western Canada. Fans are able to purchase tickets on the band’s official website through ticketmaster. Tickets for most shows are still available and range from $40-$140. With the purchase of concert tickets through the band’s website a code is given that enables the concert goer to receive two tracks from Mojo and the actual album on June 15th. Throughout the tour Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers will be joined by various artists, such as Joe Cocker, ZZ Top, Drive-By Truckers, My Morning Jacket, Buddy Guy, and Crosby, Stills, and Nash. The tour is scheduled to wrap up on October 2nd in Irvine, CA.

For the past three decades Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers have seen great success in their music with numerous Grammy nominations and wins, chart topping albums and songs that will keep karaoke singers occupied for years. There is no sign of the band calling it quits any time soon. As Petty told Parade, he is going to keep performing and writing songs until they are either no longer good or it is no longer fun.