“Mick Fleetwood asked me to join the band, but I don’t think Stevie voted against me… I don’t play like Lindsey, but I was able to do the songs justice”: Mike Campbell on the challenge of joining Fleetwood Mac and what he learned from Tom Petty

A portrait of Mike Campbell wearing a wide-brimmed hat and dark sunglasses, as the former Heartbreaker posses with a guitar.

Mike Campbell was Tom Petty’s right-hand man throughout his career. They started playing together as teenagers in Mudcrutch, moved to Los Angeles together and honed their music together, along with keyboardist Benmont Tench, the other band member who was there from Petty’s beginning.

Campbell wasn’t only the Heartbreakers’ lead guitarist; he was the only band member Petty regularly co-wrote with, and that includes landmark songs like Refugee, Here Comes My Girl and Running Down a Dream. Campbell also co-produced many of the band’s albums and did some landmark work with others.