In 1970, Tom Petty formed the Southern-rock outfit Mudcrutch with high school friend Tom Leadon. Eventually adding co-lead guitarist Mike Campbell and keyboardist Benmont Tench, the Gainesville, Florida-based outfit never made it to the charts before splitting up in 1975. However, Petty, Campbell, and Tench would go on to form Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, which you may have heard of.
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Most of the original lineup, including Leadon, would reunite in 2007, releasing two albums before Petty’s death in 2017 effectively ended the group. Six years later, on this day (March 22) in 2023, Tom Leadon died at age 70.
Petty Followed Tom Leadon to Los Angeles
Born Sept. 16, 1952 in Rosemount, Minnesota, Tom Leadon moved with his family to San Diego before settling in Gainesville in 1964…