View source for Tom Petersson

{{Short description|American musician}}
{{for|people with similar names|Thomas Petersson (disambiguation)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2014}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| image             = Cheap Trick @ Bluesfest (5952932268).jpg
| name              = Tom Petersson
| landscape         = yes
| caption           = Petersson in 2011
| background        = non_vocal_instrumentalist
| birth_name        = Thomas John Peterson
| alias             = 
| birth_date        = {{Birth date and age|1950|5|9}}
| death_date        = {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}}
| birth_place       = [[Rockford, Illinois|Rockford]], Illinois, US
| origin            = 
| instrument        = Bass guitar<!--- If you think an instrument should be listed, a discussion to reach consensus is needed first per: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Infobox_musical_artist#instrument--->
| genre             = [[Rock music|Rock]]
| occupation        = Musician, songwriter
| years_active      = 
| label             = 
| current_member_of = [[Cheap Trick]]
| associated_acts   = [[Cheap Trick]], [[Fuse (band)|Fuse]]
| website           = 
| current_members   = 
| past_members      = 
}}

'''Thomas John Peterson''' (born May 9, 1950), better known as '''Tom Petersson''', is an American musician who is best known as the bass guitar player for the rock band [[Cheap Trick]].<ref>{{allMusic|id=p220712}}</ref>

==Career==
Before joining [[Cheap Trick]], Petersson played in a number of bands, including the Bol Weevils, the Grim Reapers, Sick Man of Europe, and [[Fuse (band)|Fuse]]. He started his career playing electric guitar but soon switched to bass. His professional career remained closely entwined with Cheap Trick guitarist [[Rick Nielsen]] since the Grim Reapers in 1967, and the two co-founded Cheap Trick in 1974.<ref>{{cite web| title =Nazz biography| work =Technicolor Web of Sound| url =http://www.techwebsound.com/playlistdetail.cfm?artist=381}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Cheap Trick line-up history |work=Classic Webs |url=http://www.classicwebs.com/cheaptrk.htm |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141024144442/http://www.classicwebs.com/cheaptrk.htm |archive-date=October 24, 2014 }}</ref>

During Cheap Trick's early years, Petersson started playing the [[12 string bass guitar|12-string bass guitar]], an instrument he conceived and developed in collaboration with luthiers at [[Hamer Guitars]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.12stringbass.net/master.htm |title=The 12-String Bass Website |access-date=2010-05-27 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100514023621/http://www.12stringbass.net/master.htm |archive-date=May 14, 2010 |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.12stringbass.net/quadbass.htm |title=Hamer |access-date=May 27, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081117100622/http://www.12stringbass.net/quadbass.htm |archive-date=November 17, 2008 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.12stringbass.net |title=The Encyclopedia of the 12-String Bass |website=12stringbass.net |access-date=2017-07-27}}</ref> Petersson left Cheap Trick in August 1980, shortly before the release of the album ''[[All Shook Up (Cheap Trick album)|All Shook Up]]''. He worked with his then-wife Dagmar on material for a solo album, which was eventually released in 1984 as the six-song EP ''[[Tom Peterson and Another Language]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://rarebird9.net/trick.html |title=Rarebird's Cheap Trick Reviews |publisher=Rarebird9.net |access-date=2013-12-05}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Wolf |first=Alissa |url=http://articles.philly.com/1992-08-15/news/25988285_1_cheap-trick-budokan-tom-petersson |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131212200317/http://articles.philly.com/1992-08-15/news/25988285_1_cheap-trick-budokan-tom-petersson |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 12, 2013 |title=Cheap Trick On The Beach In Wildwood - Philly.com |publisher=Articles.philly.com |date=2010-07-12 |access-date=2013-12-05}}</ref> Petersson also toured with [[Carmine Appice]] in 1982.<ref>{{cite web |title=Carmine Appice & Friends / Rock Super Session Vol 1 / 2CDR |url=https://www.giginjapan.com/carmine-appice-friends-1rock-super-session/ |website=Gig in Japan |access-date=18 July 2018}}</ref> From 1985 to 1987, he joined [[Pete Comita]], who had briefly replaced him in Cheap Trick, in a reformed version of his early band, Sick Man of Europe, which also included songwriter [[Janna Allen]].{{citation needed|date=July 2018}} Petersson rejoined Cheap Trick in 1987 and has remained with the band ever since.

Outside of Cheap Trick, Petersson has worked with artists such as [[Donovan]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.donovan.ie/en/2013/05/shadows-of-blue/|title=Shadows of Blue - Donovan - Official Website|work=donovan.ie|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130629022036/http://www.donovan.ie/en/2013/05/shadows-of-blue/|archive-date=June 29, 2013|df=mdy-all}}</ref> [[Willie Nelson]],<ref>[http://cheaptrick.com/tom-petersson-on-smt-crossroads]{{dead link|date=July 2017}}</ref> [[Mick Jagger]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.musicradar.com/us/news/guitars/production-legend-dave-jerden-on-13-career-defining-records-586973/6#!6|title=Production legend Dave Jerden on 13 career-defining records|author=Joe Bosso|work=MusicRadar}}</ref> [[Harry Nilsson]] (unused tracks for the ''[[Every Man Has a Woman]]'' album), [[Bill Lloyd (country musician)|Bill Lloyd]], [[Frank Black]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://forbassplayersonly.com/tom-petersson-speaks-exclusive-fbpo-feature/|title=Exclusive new feature with Cheap Trick bassist Tom Petersson|work=For Bass Players Only|date=March 11, 2015 }}</ref> [[Concrete Blonde]], [[Foster and Lloyd]], [[Edan Everly]], Coinship, and members of [[The Mavericks]]. Petersson also appeared in [[The Ramones]]' 1986 music video "[[Something to Believe In (Ramones song)|Something to Believe In]]".

==Personal life==
[[File:Tom Petersson.jpg|thumb|Petersson in August 1999]]
Petersson and his wife, Alison, have two children, son Liam, and daughter Lilah. In 2014, Tom and Alison founded ''Rock Your Speech''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://rockyourspeech.com|title=Rock Your Speech|author=Rock Your Speech}}</ref> to promote awareness and understanding of [[autism spectrum]] disorder and to use music to help children overcome speech difficulties associated with autism.

Petersson is an avid guitar collector, owning a wide variety of guitars and basses.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.premierguitar.com/articles/GALLERY_Tom_Peterssons_Bass_Collection|title=GALLERY: Tom Petersson's Bass Collection|website=Premierguitar.com|access-date=2017-07-27}}</ref> He prominently used a vintage [[Gibson Thunderbird]] bass as his main stage instrument for many years, until a girlfriend threw it out of a hotel window during an argument.{{citation needed|date=July 2018}} Professionally, he has endorsed a number of different bass brands during his career, including Hamer, Chandler, Waterstone, Electrical Guitar Company, Hofner, and Mike Lull. He currently plays Gretsch basses, including a pair of his distinctive Falcon signature 12-string basses (one in green, one in white), which Petersson endorses and have become a production model.<ref>{{cite web |title=G6136B-TP12 Custom Shop Tom Petersson Signature White Falcon™ Bass 12-String with Cadillac Tailpiece, White Lacquer |url=https://www.gretschguitars.com/gear/build/bass/usa-custom-shop-tom-petersson-signature-12-string-falcon-bass/9252002684 |website=Gretsch Guitars |access-date=18 July 2018}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
*''Reputation Is a Fragile Thing: The Story of Cheap Trick''; Mike Hayes with Ken Sharp, published by Poptastic, 1998, {{ISBN|978-0966208108}}

==External links==
*[http://www.cheaptrick.com/ Official Cheap Trick website]

{{CheapTrick}}
{{2016 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Petersson, Tom}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American rock bass guitarists]]
[[Category:American male bass guitarists]]
[[Category:Songwriters from Illinois]]
[[Category:Cheap Trick members]]
[[Category:People from Winnebago County, Illinois]]
[[Category:Place of birth missing (living people)]]
[[Category:Guitarists from Illinois]]
[[Category:20th-century American bass guitarists]]
[[Category:21st-century American bass guitarists]]
[[Category:Enigma Records artists]]
[[Category:1950 births]]