| Mike Campbell | |
| Birth Name: | Michael Wayne Campbell |
| Birth Date: | 1 February 1950 |
| Birth Place: | Panama City, Florida, U.S. |
| Origin: | Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. |
| Genre: | Rock |
| Occupation: | Guitarist |
| Instruments: | Guitar, bass guitar, vocals |
| Years Active: | 1971–present |
Michael Wayne Campbell (born February 1, 1950) is an American guitarist and vocalist. He was a member of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and co-wrote many of the band's hits with Petty, including "Refugee", "Here Comes My Girl", "You Got Lucky", and "Runnin' Down a Dream". Outside of The Heartbreakers, he has worked as a session guitarist and songwriter with a number of other acts, including composing and playing on the Don Henley hits "The Boys of Summer" & "The Heart of the Matter" as well as working on most of Stevie Nicks's solo albums. Campbell, along with Neil Finn, joined Fleetwood Mac to replace lead guitarist Lindsey Buckingham on their world tour in 2018–2019. After the end of that tour, he has been involved in his own band, the Dirty Knobs. As of 2024, the Dirty Knobs have released three albums.[1]
On November 11, 2011, Rolling Stone magazine named Mike Campbell to their top 100 guitarists coming in at number 79.[2] He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002 as a member of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
Campbell was born on February 1, 1950, in Panama City, Florida. He grew up there and in Jacksonville, Florida, where he graduated from Jean Ribault High School in 1968. At the age of 16, his mother, Helen Barber, bought him his first guitar, a Harmony acoustic model which he later described as "unplayable" from a pawnshop.[3] His first electric guitar was a $60 Guyatone, but playing a friend's Gibson SG (a model which Campbell would not own himself for many years) was a transformative experience. Like Tom Petty, Campbell drew his strongest influences from The Byrds and Bob Dylan, with additional inspiration coming from guitarists such as Scotty Moore, Luther Perkins, George Harrison, Carl Wilson, Jerry Garcia, Roger McGuinn, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Jimmy Page, Mick Taylor, and Neil Young. The first song he learned to play was "Baby Let Me Follow You Down," a song which appeared on Dylan's eponymous debut album. He formed a band named Dead or Alive which quickly disbanded.[4]
Campbell met Tom Petty through drummer Randall Marsh. Marsh was auditioning to be in Petty's band Mudcrutch and learned that Mudcrutch had recently lost their guitarist. He suggested that Petty try Campbell, who was his roommate and had actually been listening to the conversation in the next room.[5] Campbell impressed Petty with his version of "Johnny B. Goode" and was offered a spot in the band. Mudcrutch became a popular act around Gainesville and north Florida in the early 1970s. They relocated to Los Angeles in 1974 and signed a record deal with Shelter Records, but released only one poor-selling single and broke up soon after.
In 1976, Campbell rejoined Petty to begin Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers with former Mudcrutch member Benmont Tench (keyboards) along with Ron Blair (bass guitar) and Stan Lynch (drums).
Like the other Heartbreakers, Campbell avoids the virtuoso approach to playing, preferring to have his work serve the needs of each song.[6]
Campbell co-produced the Heartbreakers albums Southern Accents, , Let Me Up (I've Had Enough), Into the Great Wide Open, Songs and Music from "She's the One", Echo, The Last DJ, The Live Anthology and Mojo, as well as the Petty solo albums Full Moon Fever, Wildflowers, and Highway Companion. His sole vocal contribution to the group was on the track "I Don't Wanna Fight" on Echo.
Campbell collaborated, recorded, and toured with Tom Petty for almost 50 years. His last live performance with the Heartbreakers was on September 25, 2017, at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. Tom Petty died unexpectedly about one week later, on October 2.[7]
In 1997, Campbell co-founded the Blue Stingrays with Heartbreakers member Ron Blair and Mudcrutch member Randall Marsh, and released their one album the same year.
In 2007, he joined a reformed Mudcrutch with Petty, Tench, Marsh, and Tom Leadon; they debuted in 2008 with a tour and an album. The band returned in 2016 for another album and tour before Petty's death.
On April 9, 2018, Fleetwood Mac announced that Campbell would be joining the band along with Neil Finn to replace lead guitarist Lindsey Buckingham for their 2018–19 world tour.[8] In March 2022, Campbell announced that he had not worked with Fleetwood Mac after 2019, and that he had moved on.[1]
While in the Heartbreakers, Campbell was lead singer and guitarist with a side band, the Dirty Knobs, with guitarist Jason Sinay, drummer Matt Laug, and bassist Lance Morrison.[9] "It's rougher-edged [than Petty's material]," Campbell says of the group, "It's slightly over-driven, less polished, lots of Sixties influence: The Kinks, Led Zeppelin, The Animals. It's something I probably should have done a long time ago, but I didn't 'cause I was wrapped up in the Heartbreakers."[10] They released a single, "Feelin' High", in 2010.[11] Jason Sinay left the band in 2022 to focus on his solo career. His replacement is Texas guitarist, Chris Holt, who has played with Don Henley and Max Weinberg.
The band released the title track from its debut album, Wreckless Abandon, in January 2020,[12] followed by the album itself in November of that year.[13] The album was produced by Campbell and George Drakoulias, who with Tom Petty produced Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' The Last D.J. The cover art was by Klaus Voormann who created the cover of The Beatles Revolver.
In the summer of 2021, the band released a new single, a cover of J. J. Cale's "Humdinger".[14]
In April 2022, the band released their second album, External Combustion.[15]
In 2023, Matt Laug became the touring drummer for AC/DC and former Heartbreaker, Steve Ferrone, was brought in on drums.
On May 7, 2024, the band released a new song and video, "Dare To Dream" from their third album, Vagabonds, Virgins & Misfits, released on June 14, 2024.[16]
With Blue Stingrays
With The Dirty KnobsAlbums
Singles
With Stevie Nicks
With The Spinners
With Dwight Twilley
With Don Henley
With Lone Justice
With Eurythmics
With Bob Dylan
With Aretha Franklin
With Melba Moore
With Peter Case
With Brian Setzer
With Matthew Sweet
With Stephanie Mills
With Warren Zevon
With Williams Brothers
With Randy Newman
With Roy Orbison
With The Graces
With The Temptations
With Tom Petty
With Paul Carrack
With Jeffrey Osborne
With Jonathan Butler
With Roger McGuinn
With Paula Abdul
With Jennifer Holliday
With Bob Seger
With John Prine
With Joe Cocker
With Tracy Chapman
With Robin Zander
With Michael McDonald
With Jackson Browne
With Christine Lakeland
With Will Downing
With Patti Scialfa
With Randy Crawford
With Taj Mahal
With The Wallflowers
With Johnny Cash
With Mary J. Blige
With Linda Ronstadt
With Cracker
With D'Angelo
With Philip Bailey
With Bad Religion
With Tift Merritt
With Rob Thomas
With Neil Diamond
With Dixie Chicks
With The Dandy Warhols
With Susanna Hoffs
With Chris Hillman
With David Garfield
With Chris Stapleton
With Margo Price
With Ian Hunter
With Ringo Starr