Benmont Tench

Benmont Tench earned lasting recognition as the primary pianist and keyboardist for Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, establishing himself among rock’s most admired instrumentalists through countless guest appearances on other artists’ recordings. He entered the world on September 7, 1953, in Gainesville, Florida, beginning piano studies in childhood and performing recitals by the time he reached six. Exposure to the Beatles prompted him to abandon formal instruction in favor of ’60s rock & roll. During his teenage years he first encountered fellow Gainesville musician Tom Petty inside a local music store. Years afterward, while on a college break, he attended a Mudcrutch performance that featured future Heartbreaker Mike Campbell on guitar; after joining the group onstage multiple times, he returned to his studies. Petty soon urged him to leave school and commit fully to Mudcrutch, a step Tench ultimately took following careful consideration.

Once a new demo was cut, the quartet secured a contract with Shelter Records, yet the band dissolved before completing an album. Tench briefly considered forming his own project, intending to serve as lead singer, until Petty persuaded both him and Campbell to reunite. The addition of drummer Stan Lynch and bassist Ron Blair produced the official launch of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers in 1976, which yielded a deal with MCA. Throughout the 1980s the group rose to worldwide prominence on the strength of albums such as Damn the Torpedoes, Hard Promises, and Southern Accents. Beginning in the middle of that decade Tench became a highly sought session musician, contributing to projects by Jackson Browne, Johnny Cash, Elvis Costello, the Cult, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, Brian Eno, Hall & Oates, Green Day, Don Henley, Indigo Girls, Ziggy Marley, Alanis Morissette, Stevie Nicks, Bonnie Raitt, Remy Zero, the Rolling Stones, U2, Robin Zander, Ryan Adams, Travis Tritt, and Ringo Starr, among many others. He nevertheless continued to appear on every one of the fourteen Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers studio albums and joined the band for innumerable tours. In late 2013 he revealed that his debut solo album, You Should Be So Lucky, would arrive the following February; Glyn Johns produced the recording at Sunset Sound in Los Angeles, drawing contributions from an array of longtime associates that ranged from Ryan Adams to Don Was.