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The Latest Breaking News from Mike Campbell

“We all blamed each other, but we never doubted the song”: It took Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers more than 100 takes to nail one of their greatest songs – and it still ended up being “an albatross” around their necks

When Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers teamed up with a hotshot new producer for a 1979 classic, it nearly broke the band

Louder

“That’s all I had for weeks… People started banging on the wall – ‘Don’t play that anymore!’” Tom Petty wanted to turn a catchy riff into a much-needed hit. He didn't stop playing it until he did

Under pressure to follow up his multi-platinum breakthrough, Damn the Torpedoes, with another best-selling album, Petty wanted a lead single “that had a little lick from the beginning”. That lick proved to be a stubborn one

Guitar World

“It took me a few years to figure out that if you’re going to play Fender guitars, you play with Fender amps”: Ryan Hedgecock stuck to his own creative path, even when Lone Justice were torn apart

The country crossover pioneer’s desire to explore the “indigenous sound of LA” has never left him – and it’s bringing about a full-circle moment as he reactivates Parlor James and plans a hardcore cowpunk solo record

Guitar World

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“The way we played guitar, the way I voiced against Tom, we found it on American Girl. I thought, ‘This is us.’ Those two guitars helped make it happen”: Mike Campbell on how his lifelong musical connection with Tom Petty was forged in a matter of days

As he celebrates the release of his memoir, Heartbreaker, Tom Petty’s right-hand man and dear friend reflects on a career’s worth of enduring hits, and why he “never doubted the music”

Guitar World

The sacred duty of playing the hits

Founding members of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Benmont Tench and Mike Campbell, hold the notes of memory

Salon

“I had no inkling Tom would go so early. I always wondered who would go first. I’m still grieving”: Mike Campbell on life as Tom Petty’s right hand man and the highs and lows of being a Heartbreaker

The life and times of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell

Louder

“Geffen thought we were too young to write our own songs. Bob Dylan wrote a song, Bruce Springsteen had a song”: Ryan Hedgecock on Lone Justice's brief but fierce ’80s run – and how Tom Petty and Mike Campbell ended up penning a song on their debut

The promising young band were the subject of a flurry of publicity after they were signed to Geffen, but a behind-the-scenes mismatch in vision led to the outfit's premature demise

Guitar World

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“Tom listened to it and said, ‘It sounds kind of jazzy.’ I went back and changed the chorus, and that’s the version I played for Don”: Mike Campbell on writing The Boys of Summer with Don Henley – after Tom Petty passed on it

Campbell made an all-important change to the song before handing it over to Henley

Guitar World

“I play the double-neck and trade solos with Joe Walsh on Hotel California. It’s a bit terrifying, but it’s the greatest thing ever”: Chris Holt landed The Eagles without an audition – but his gigs with Mike Campbell and Don Henley might have helped

Former Don Henley sideman has a multi-amp rig when he plays with Mike Campbell, and a stipped down in-ears-only setup for the Sphere – but he always has 12 guitars standing by

Guitar World

“Norm was like, ‘Do you want to play with Joe?’ Before I could say ‘yes’ or ‘no,’ he brings Joe over and tells him, ‘Jason wants to play a set’”: Jason Sinay on jamming with Joe Bonamassa – and why his early sessions with Mike Campbell were a struggle

The session veteran recalls jamming with Neil Young, Keith Richards and Bob Weir – and why he thought he’d initially blown the gig with the Heartbreaker’s solo band

Guitar World

“He mostly played bass. I had a ’64 Strat that I got for $200. Tom didn’t really have a good electric, so I let him use that one”: How Mike Campbell and Tom Petty developed their Heartbreakers sound – with the help of some choice early gear picks

Though Petty was in need of a decent electric, the two Heartbreakers quickly landed on a sound that would define their guitar partnership

Guitar World

"It could have been the end, but it became a new beginning": Fleetwood Mac and the game-changing arrival of Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks - only in the new issue of Classic Rock

Also in this issue: Joe Walsh, Don Airey, Those Damn Crows, Pete Townshend, Lollapalooza 92, Luke Spiller, Mike Campbell, Yngwie Malmsteen, Samantha Fish and more

Louder

The guitar gear releases you might have missed this week, from Martin and Fender to Tone King and D'Angelico

A double dose of signature guitars, a highly anticipated pedal amp from Tone King and a comprehensive Martin Junior series overhaul headline this week's drops

Guitar World

“It’s one of the most beautiful, living, breathing pieces of art – all the grime has just aged into the wood”: Margo Price on playing Willie Nelson’s Trigger, growing up with Gibson and bringing her signature J-45 to life

The country singer-songwriter on what she learned working with Mike Campbell and how playing drums influences her guitar style

Guitar World

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Guitar World

“The ‘Destruct’ button really sets it apart from just about any other Tele”: Fender and Mike Campbell recreate the Red Dog – The Heartbreaker’s heavily modded 1972 Telecaster, which he played with Tom Petty and Fleetwood Mac

Campbell bought the Red Dog from one of his students, and used it across his career on some of his most notable works

MusicRadar

“The humbuckers give it so much power and such a wide variety of tones while the destruct button really sets it apart from just about any other Tele”: Fender unveils the Mike Campbell “Red Dog” Telecaster

The Red Dog is one crazy beast, with an SHH pickup configuration, a Bigsby, and a Destroy circuit that applies a whopping boost

Louder

"It’s a thin line between child and genius." Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell reveals how a drum machine confused the hell out of Bob Dylan when he tried to write a hit single in the mid '80s

After seeing how Mike Campbell's input revitalised Don Henley, Bob Dylan fancied a slice of the action, but was thwarted by a uncooperative drum machine

Guitar World

“Slightly unreal moment to sit with Lindsey Buckingham and see his genuine happiness for Mick to finally do his own album”: Lindsey Buckingham and Mick Fleetwood reunite in the studio

The guitarist was fired from Fleetwood Mac on the eve of a a 2018 tour, with his relationship with Nicks said to be the cause – but it looks like he’s set to feature on Fleetwood’s new solo album

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Guitar World

“I didn’t think I played that well. I had a hunch he could pull something out with the slide. I handed him the guitar, and he just did it”: The time Mike Campbell asked George Harrison to take over his own guitar solo

Campbell recalls rejecting his own solo on the Traveling Wilburys' debut single – and why Harrison's playing style was a better fit

Guitar World

“It was a complete and utter shock to my system – when his tech came in, he was like, ‘Keith’s using your rig!’” The night Keith Richards rocked up unannounced to an LA jam night

Singer-songwriter Jason Sinay is best known for his work with Heartbreaker Mike Campbell, and has recalled a career of amazing guest spots – including one from a Rolling Stone

Guitar World

“I brought a musicality that Tom wasn’t capable of. I had techniques that I could express to him in his songs that he couldn't have done on his own”: Mike Campbell on what he brought to the Heartbreakers as Tom Petty’s guitar foil

The Heartbreakers guitarist will release his career-spanning memoir next week

MusicRadar

“I think I brought a musicality that Tom wasn’t capable of”: Heartbreakers guitarist Mike Campbell opens up on his productive but sometimes fractious relationship with bandmate Tom Petty

“Sometimes he made me so angry I couldn’t look at him,” Campbell says of Petty in his new memoir

USA Today Sports Media Group

How to buy Chris Stapleton All-American Road Show 2025 Tour tickets

Get your tickets for Chris Stapleton's All-American Road Show 2025 Tour today

MusicRadar

"He didn't tap a foot or move his head or anything. He listened to it all the way through and I thought he hated it": When an Eagle, Heartbreaker, Roger Linn and an Oberheim OB-X combined forces for a pop masterpiece – the Boys Of Summer story

Best of 2024: Tom Petty rejected Mike Campbell's synth and drum machine demo, Don Henley didn't make that mistake… but the 1984 hit had other obstacles to overcome

Guitar World

“Nails the personality of one of history’s quirkiest combos”: Origin Effects’ Deluxe 55 pedal repurposes the tones of the Fender amp beloved by Neil Young, Mike Campbell, and The Eagles

The Tweed Recreation stompbox was built following close inspection of a genuine Fender 5E3 Tweed Deluxe from 1955

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