Heartbreaker

A Memoir

De: Mike Campbell, Ari Surdoval - contributor

Narrado por: Mike Campbell

A fast-paced, tender-hearted rock ’n’ roll memoir for the ages, Mike Campbell’s Heartbreaker is part rags-to-riches story and part raucous, seat-of-the-pants adventure, recounting Campbell’s life and times as lead guitarist of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

Mike Campbell was the lead guitarist for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers from the band’s inception in 1976 to Petty’s tragic death in 2017. His iconic, melodic playing helped form the foundation of the band’s sound, as heard on definitive classics like “American Girl,” “Breakdown,” “Don’t Come Around Here No More,” “Mary Jane’s Last Dance,” “Learning to Fly” and “Into the Great Wide Open.”

Together, Petty and Campbell wrote countless songs, including some of the band’s biggest hits: “Refugee,” “Here Comes My Girl,” “You Got Lucky” and “Runnin’ Down a Dream” among them.

From their early days in Florida to their dizzying rise to superstardom to Petty’s acclaimed, platinum-selling solo albums Full Moon Fever and Wildflowers, Petty never made a record without him. Their work together is timeless, as are the career-defining hits Campbell co-wrote with Don Henley (“The Boys of Summer”) and with Petty for Stevie Nicks (“Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around”).

But few know of the less-than-glamorous background from which Campbell emerged—a hardscrabble childhood on the north side of Jacksonville, often just days ahead of homelessness, raised by a single mother struggling on minimum wage. After months of saving, his mother bought him a $15 pawnshop acoustic guitar for his sixteenth birthday. With a chord book and a transistor radio, Campbell painstakingly taught himself to play.

When a chance encounter with a guidance counselor inspired him to enroll in the University of Florida, Campbell—broke, with nowhere else to go and the Vietnam draft looming—moved into a rundown farmhouse in Gainesville, where he met a 20-year-old Tom Petty. They were soon inseparable. Together they chased their shared dream all the way to Los Angeles, where Campbell would meet his destiny, and the love of his life, Marcie.

It was an at-times grueling dream come true that took Campbell from the very bottom to the absolute top, where Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers would remain for decades, creating an astonishing body of work.

Brilliant, soft-spoken and intensely private, Campbell opens up within this book for the first time, revealing himself to be an astute observer of triumphs, tragedies and absurdities alike, with a songwriter’s eye for the telling detail and a voice as direct and unpretentious as his music.

An instant classic, Heartbreaker is Mike Campbell’s heartfelt portrait of one throwaway kid’s lifesaving love of music and the creative heights he achieved through luck, collaboration, humility and extraordinary talent.

©2025 Mike Campbell (P)2025 Hachette Books

fantastic

I don't know if I even consider myself a huge fan, although I know a good deal of their catalog, but especially as a musician, this was a fascinating listen. highly highly recommend if you're a musician yourself or have been, but if you're just curious about the band definitely give it a whirl.

Amazing

Humble, honest and genuine. An exhaustive history of the Heartbreaker’s incredible journey from a bar band in Gainesville to the highest rung on the rock and roll ladder.

Like Being There

This felt like being present on the scenes. it's very well told. I hear more now in each Petty song because Mike detailed their creation. I don't write many reviews but this is exceptional and well narrated.

Reading by the author makes it better

Mike Campbell’s honest portrayal of himself and career with Tom Petty is a great listen. Loved it.

The best!

I loved Mike’s kind honesty. A great story teller. I highly recommend to any Heartbreaker fan.

Rock n roll heart

Mike tells the truth of an unlikely life. From a difficult Florida childhood and youth to rock stardom, he doesn’t hold back.

Mikes heartfelt retelling of his view of history

Nothing at all. Mike has earned my respect with his adherence to what mattered in life to him.

Wow. Just wow.

The emotions that Mike puts into his reading is incredible and sometimes intense. Mike is not a polished book reader but that’s what makes it feel so right.

The Quiet Heartbreaker

Honest, raw and fascinating. Mike Campbell is a true American success story. He wrote many of the hits. Tom was lucky to find him.

Nothing like hearing the author’s voice

Fantastic writing that pairs well with Conversations with Tom Petty. Would have been great to have all the non-TP/MC songs listed as supplemental material.