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.

Honesty

I loved the pace of Mike's narration. His honesty and heartfelt recollections made this one of the best autobiographies I've ever read.

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.

From the heart!

A great story that recounts Mikes life and how following his dreams at all costs led him to the people and places that made those dreams reality. A great look at his personal life and his love for family as well as his relationship with Tom and how he knew they needed each other for the music to come to life. Many behind the scenes stories of the rock royalty and how Mike was able to fit in and become one of the greats in his own right. Highly recommend!

Fantastic

The most entertaning, enlightening, and engaging account of a rags to riches rock and roll band that I have ever read or listened to. Completely disagree with the Wall Street Journal's review comment that "might have been 50 pages shorter". Thoroughly enjoyed every minute. Wish it was longer. Didn't want it to end.

Wonderful!

Mike Campbell and his co-author Ari Surdoval have done such a good job telling his story. Mike and George Harrison are probably my favorite guitar players of all time so I can't imagine a reality where I wouldn't have enjoyed this book, but it honestly exceeded all of my hopes. Mr. Campbell is a generous and empathetic person. He uses a lot of these pages to describe the contributions that other people have made to his journey. And even though Tom Petty, who is a wonderful talent, seems to have been a harsh person to work with and for at times, Mike does an excellent job explaining his decision to stay and support, even when things got dark and/or hurtful. The music is so amazing and it speaks for itself, but Mike tells how it came together. He is revealing without being salacious and he is always, always, always empathetic. Man, I just loved this book. It's up there with Keith Richards Life in the top five music memoirs I have ever read, and I have read many, many, many. Also want to say what a good narrator Mike is. Just a very likable and relatable guy with other worldly gifts. Thank you for this amazing book, Mike Campbell. I just loved it.

Awesomeness

This is an amazing autobiography. I knew many of the stories, but not from this point of view.

Mike, I'm so glad you wrote this. Thank you for all your music. Its made a huge difference in my life.

Best book on the Heartbreakers

I felt like this was a little more true and insightful than the authorized Tom Petty biography. Well told, but not the most interesting reader. Great guitar player, though!