Heartbreaker
A Memoir
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Heartbreaker
Buy Now for £16.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Mike Campbell
-
By:
-
Mike Campbell
About this listen
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 counsellor inspired him to enrol 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 twenty-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 gruelling 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 these pages 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 Audio UK
Listeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about Heartbreaker
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jason
- 28-04-25
Beautiful
This is the most beautiful, honest and heartfelt memoir you could ever wish to read. Hearing Mike speak his truth and wander us through the decades of history so dear to our hearts is a glorious experience. Losing Tom was a monumental blow that shook my world and never even knew the guy. When Mike talks about our history partnership and lose of Tom it’s a cathartic moment all Heartbreaker fans needed. We need to share in that towering loss. This is a masterful read. Thanks Mike. Xxx
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- S Lipperman
- 31-03-25
Amazing
Really enjoyable audiobook. Great stories. If you’re a fan there’s so much insight it’s amazing. If you don’t know the story it’s a really great listen.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!