Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers

Few outfits in rock history have been as consistently excellent or as long-lasting as Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, who forged their rootsy identity from roughly equal parts of Dylan, the Byrds and the Stones, the whole glorious shebang held together by an effortlessly cool Florida-born frontman. The band's eponymous debut album (1976) built on a strong foothold among British fans, before ultimately impressing the U.S. on the back of standouts like "American Girl," which would become an FM fixture by the end of the decade. Third album Damn the Torpedoes, featuring "Don't Do Me Like That" and "Refugee," would mark the band's true homeland breakthrough. Petty pulls in a fellow traveller for some production polish on his solo debut, in Next Steps.

Not content with grinding out album after uniformly excellent group album, Tom Petty has released three commercially and critically successful solo efforts: 1989's Full Moon Fever, 1994's Wildflowers, and 2006's Highway Companion. The first of that trio was produced by former Electric Light Orchestra lynchpin Jeff Lynne, who had collaborated with Petty as a fellow member of supergroup the Traveling Wilburys, and it was from that experience that gently rockin' confections like "Yer So Bad" emerged. First and foremost, however, Petty has remained the heart of the Heartbreakers: "Change of Heart" is something of a lost classic from early '80s release Long After Dark. Petty takes a stand against the rapacious business of rock, in Deep Cuts.

Tom Petty has stayed vital by maintaining an innate restlessness and orneriness. He battled his label over the price of Hard Promises (Petty wanted to keep the cost down) and took on the music industry with 2002's The Last DJ. He even broke his hand when he punched a wall out of frustration during the recording of Southern Accents . . . but still the dude rolls on. The outstanding "Flirting With Time" appears on 2006 solo release Highway Companion, which prefigured a semi-retirement (from interviews and touring) but don't worry: Tom Petty's final chapters have yet to be written and, moving into the '10s, there's the promise of more from the great man and his Heartbreakers.

Take one headstrong frontman and team him with a crack cast of brawny rockers, and you've got a band with staying power. Tom Petty sounded strikingly fresh when he and the Heartbreakers turned up on rock radio in 1976, providing a bridge between the classic rockers who came before them and the punk and new-wave revolution that was taking shape. They were well grounded in the Brit Invasion sound (especially for a bunch of Florida boys), but could never be satisfied remaining staid revivalists. And there has always been way more to Petty than his solid foundation of group work: "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" remains a standout dalliance with with Stevie Nicks; he was a part of the Traveling Wilburys' legendary personnel; and as a solo artist, he's treated us to stone-cold classics like "Free Fallin'" and "I Won't Back Down." Prepare to tap into the heart of one of America's most beloved rock 'n' roll phenomena.