Mike Campbell has found ways to keep Tom Petty close, even as he continues to come to terms with the loss of his longtime bandmate and musical partner.
Nearly nine years after Petty’s death, the Heartbreakers guitarist says the grief remains very much a part of his life.
“It was like losing your right arm. Very hard — and a surprise — and I’m still grieving,” Campbell tells The Sun in a new interview.
Petty died aged 66 on October 2, 2017, less than a week after he and the Heartbreakers played their final concert together at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. His death was subsequently attributed to an accidental overdose involving several prescription medications, including painkillers he had been taking for a hip injury.
Campbell’s connection with Petty stretched back nearly half a century. The two first crossed paths in 1970, when Campbell auditioned for Mudcrutch, the Florida band that preceded the formation of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. The guitarist knew almost immediately that Petty was someone special.
“Tom was instantly unforgettable,” Campbell tells The Sun. “Of course, he had the long blond hair but he also had a swagger.
“He had this vibe around him of knowing where he was going — and he was smarter than anybody else in the room.
“The whole rock star thing came later. Tom lived at home [with his parents Earl and Kitty] and was a hippie dude like me.”
Their partnership would eventually produce some of rock’s most enduring songs, among them “American Girl,” “Refugee,” “Don’t Do Me Like That” and “I Won’t Back Down.” But Campbell says the bond between them went well beyond what they accomplished in the studio or onstage.
“Tom and I were close, not necessarily to hang out all the time, but our musical and spiritual connection was about as strong as anybody can have,” he says.
That connection is something Campbell still feels when he takes Heartbreakers songs on the road with his current group, the Dirty Knobs. The set includes material he co-wrote with Petty, including “Runnin’ Down a Dream” and “You Got Lucky.”
For Campbell, revisiting the songs is a way to maintain a connection with his old friend.
“I like to perform Heartbreakers songs to keep them alive, to remember and revisit my time with Tom,” he says. “It is bittersweet but there are moments when I feel his spirit. He’s right behind me, saying, ‘Go man, go!’
“You might never get over the loss of your brother or your father or your mother or your best friend but you learn to cope. That’s what grief is.”
Campbell’s latest comments arrive alongside the release of Origins 1971-1978, a box set issued November 6 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. It revisits the group’s early years, before their commercial breakthrough with 1979’s Damn the Torpedoes.
The surviving Heartbreakers also recently had an opportunity to revisit that legacy together. In September, Campbell, keyboardist Benmont Tench, drummer Stan Lynch and bassist Ron Blair reunited for the first time since Petty’s death, performing at the Americana Music Awards at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. Country star Chris Stapleton joined them for the special appearance, as they worked through a selection of the band’s best-loved songs.
