Tom Leadon is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 musician. He was an original member of Tom Petty

Tom Petty

Thomas Earl "Tom" Petty is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He is the frontman of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and was a founding member of the late 1980s supergroup Traveling Wilburys and Mudcrutch. He has also performed under the pseudonyms of Charlie T...

's former band, Mudcrutch

Mudcrutch

Mudcrutch is a Southern rock band from Gainesville, Florida best known for being the forerunner of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.-Early Years:Mudcrutch was formed in 1970 by Tom Petty and Tom Leadon, who had been playing together in a band called the Epics...

. He is the brother of Bernie Leadon

Bernie Leadon

Bernard Mathew "Bernie" Leadon, III is an American musician and songwriter, best known as a founding member of the Eagles. Prior to the Eagles, he was a member of two pioneering and highly influential country rock bands, Dillard & Clark and the Flying Burrito Brothers...

, formerly of the Eagles.

In high school, Leadon was a member of the Epics in Gainesville, Florida

Gainesville, Florida

Gainesville is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Alachua County, Florida, United States as well as the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area . The preliminary 2010 Census population count for Gainesville is 124,354. Gainesville is home to the sixth...

, where he met Petty. Petty played bass

Bass (instrument)

Bass describes musical instruments that produce tones in the low-pitched range. They belong to different families of instruments and can cover a wide range of musical roles...

 and Leadon was the lead guitarist

Guitarist

A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...

. Soon after forming Mudcrutch, with Randall Marsh on drums, the group added a second lead guitarist, Mike Campbell. Leadon and Campbell shared lead guitar solos during Mudcrutch's live shows in and around Gainesville, and also on their recording of "Up in Mississippi".

Leadon left Mudcrutch in 1972 and moved to Los Angeles

Los Ángeles

Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...

, following in the footsteps of older brother Bernie, who had recently formed the Eagles with Randy Meisner

Randy Meisner

Randy Herman Meisner is an American musician and songwriter, best known as a founding member of Poco and the Eagles...

, Glenn Frey

Glenn Frey

Glenn Lewis Frey is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor, best known as a founding member of the Eagles. Frey formed the Eagles after he met drummer Don Henley in 1970 and the two eventually joined Linda Ronstadt's backup band for her summer tour. The Eagles formed in 1971 and...

, and Don Henley

Don Henley

Donald Hugh "Don" Henley is an American singer, songwriter and drummer, best known as a founding member of the Eagles before launching a successful solo career. Henley was the drummer and lead vocalist for the Eagles from 1971–1980, when the band broke up...

. Leadon also played bass in Linda Ronstadt

Linda Ronstadt

Linda Ronstadt is an American popular music recording artist. She has earned eleven Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, an ALMA Award, numerous United States and internationally certified gold, platinum and multiplatinum albums, in addition to Tony Award and Golden...

's band, and in 1976 joined the country-rock band Silver

Silver (band)

Silver was an American 1970s country-rock band, best known for their bubblegum 1976 hit "Wham Bam".Members of the group included John Batdorf , lead vocals and guitar; Brent Mydland , keyboards and vocals; Tom Leadon , bass guitar and vocals; Greg Collier, guitar and vocals; and Harry...

, who had a top 40 hit the same year with "Wham-Bam".

In 1975, the Eagles recorded one of Tom Leadon's original songs, "Hollywood Waltz", and released it on their One of These Nights

One of These Nights

One of These Nights is the fourth studio album by the Eagles, released in 1975. The record's title song became the group's second #1 single on the Billboard Hot 100, in July of that year. The album released three Top 10 singles, "One Of These Nights", "Lyin' Eyes", and "Take It To The Limit". Those...

LP. The final version of the song is credited to Tom Leadon, Bernie Leadon, Frey, and Henley. Later that year Buck Owens

Buck Owens

Alvis Edgar Owens, Jr. , better known as Buck Owens, was an American singer and guitarist who had 21 No. 1 hits on the Billboard country music charts with his band, the Buckaroos...

 released his own version.

Leadon later became a guitar teacher in Nashville.

In 2007, Petty reformed Mudcrutch and recorded a CD with Leadon, Campbell, Marsh, and Benmont Tench. The CD was released on April 15, 2008.

In his memoir, Conversations with Tom Petty, Petty credits Leadon with inspiring him to move to L.A. to try to make it as a musician.