Mike Campbell Announces New Memoir, ‘Heartbreaker’
· Ultimate Classic RockMike Campbell, former guitarist for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, will release his memoir, Heartbreaker, on March 18, 2025.
"This is my book," Campbell said in a press release. "It's the story of a poor kid from Jacksonville, Florida who realized a dream through music. It's a long journey through hard work, dedication and luck. Playing guitar and writing songs has been my inspiration and purpose. It's a story of hope, redemption and gratitude, a testimonial that dreams can come true if you believe in yourself and follow your truth. It took two years to write and it's a labor of love. I hope you enjoy the ride!"
READ MORE: Tom Petty's Rarest Songs: Playlist
Heartbreaker is currently available for pre-ordering.
"Mike Campbell's Heartbreaker is everything one hopes for in a rock memoir," Ben Schafer, Executive Editor for Grand Central Publishing added. "Like the remarkable body of work he co-created with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, it delivers on every level from beginning to end."
Mike Campbell's Recent Work
Campell released a new album earlier this year with his band the Dirty Knobs, titled Vagabonds, Virgins & Misfits.
"My approach to songwriting is the same as it's ever been," Campbell told UCR back in June. "Except when I was partnered with Tom, I mostly just did music. I would make music tracks and give them to him and if he liked it, he would write the words. Now that he's gone, I have my own band, I'm exploring the lyrics and the characters, as well as the music. So that's a new frontier, but I'm really taking to it and I'm just trying to get good at it, you know? ... This new album, I think, has some really good lyrics, and the band, as always. And just, you know, the music is just — it's always there. I write all the time, you know, and that hasn't waned at all."
Currently, Campbell is on the road performing on the Life Is A Carnival: Last Waltz Tour, which also includes another former Heartbreaker, keyboardist Benmont Tench.
Mike Campbell
In 2018 and 2019, guitarist Mike Campbell could be found performing with Fleetwood Mac on their world tour, but he had other projects brewing. While the Heartbreakers were still touring in the '00s, Campbell started playing with his side band the Dirty Knobs. "I was so busy with my other job that we only had a few months here and there between tours to mess around," Campbell told UCR in 2022. "Now my time has opened up and this is what I want to focus on. We’re basically just carrying on with what we were doing, but just do it more full time." The Dirty Knobs have released two albums: 2020's Wreckless Abandon and 2022's External Combustion.
Benmont Tench
Keyboardist Benmont Tench has long been known for his work as a busy session musician, and in recent years, he's continued to uphold that reputation, appearing on the Who's WHO (2019), Bob Dylan's Rough and Rowdy Ways (2020), Margo Price's That's How Rumors Get Started (2020), Chris Stapleton's Starting Over (2020) and Ringo Starr's Zoom In, among others. Between all that studio work, Tench continues to perform solo shows and concerts with other artists. He's also reportedly sitting on new solo material. He told Rolling Stone in 2021 that his next album was completed, though no release has been announced.
Stan Lynch
Shortly after leaving the Heartbreakers in 1994, original drummer Stan Lynch dove into production work and session playing – first with friend Don Henley and then with John Mellencamp, Toto, Jackson Browne and many others. In 2022, he unveiled new music as the Speaker Wars, a duo formed in Nashville with singer-songwriter Jon Christopher Davis. He's also filled in on drums for a run of Dirty Knobs tour dates, marking his first performances with former bandmate Mike Campbell in nearly 30 years. "It's an adventure," Lynch told UCR about the collaboration. "We're different men, but we're the same guys."
Ron Blair
In 1982, not long after leaving the Heartbreakers, bassist Ron Blair bought a swimwear shop in Los Angeles that he operated for several years before returning to the band in 2002. Like several other Heartbreakers, Blair has lent his talents to other artists, playing on albums by Kirstin Candy, Stevie Nicks, Del Shannon, Slobberbone and the Tremblers. Blair, who was part of the original lineup of Mike Campbell's Dirty Knobs, has sat in with that band on multiple occasions.
Scott Thurston
Multi-instrumentalist Scott Thurston - who first played with the Heartbreakers on 1989's Full Moon Fever tour - has kept a relatively low profile for the past couple of years, occasionally appearing onstage with various musicians. In 2018 he joined Eddie Vedder at the Ohana Music Festival to perform a handful of Heartbreakers songs. His session work has run the gamut from Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne to the Motels and the Stooges. He can also be heard on Iggy Pop's 2020 box set, The Bowie Years.
Steve Ferrone
Ever since he first joined the Heartbreakers in 1994, drummer Steve Ferrone has always been affectionally referred to as "the new guy." These days, he continues his work as a session drummer, appearing on Ziggy Marley's self-titled 2016 album and Steve Perry's 2018 LP, Traces. In 2022, he joined the touring lineup for John Mayer's band. "I’m really happy to sit here in my studio and make records. People continue to send me songs to play on," he told Rolling Stone in 2020, noting he's been working on solo material, too. "I got an album that I’ve been working on for about 12 years I might get around to finishing. I look forward to doing that."