North Florida Music Hall of Fame

Pop-rock legends from Gainesville, originally known as the Epics, and later, Mudcrutch. Toured the Southeast for Pat Armstrong’s Macon-based booking agency. Mudcrutch ventured out to Los Angeles in 1975 and quickly landed a deal with Denny Cordell and Leon Russell’s Shelter label, which was distributed by ABC (ABC’s music operation was later absorbed by MCA, where Petty would remain for many years before switching to Warner Brothers in 1994). Despite having been signed, the band fell apart; Petty was retained by Shelter as a solo act. A year later, Petty would reunite with two Mudcrutch members (Benmont Tench and former Jacksonville resident Mike Campbell) along with Gainesville drummer Stan Lynch. Together with the Heartbreakers and as a solo act, Petty has had one of the longest and most successful careers in rock, having sold more than 50 million albums, with a career spanning four decades. Also see Lynch, Stan; Campbell, Mike; Armstrong, Pat.