Petty’s death on October 2, 2017, left Campbell reeling. He not only lost his close friend but his band.
But some months later, in early 2018, he received a phone call that gave him a new purpose when he needed it most. The caller was Mick Fleetwood, the drummer for Fleetwood Mac.
The group had been formed by Fleetwood, bass guitar player John McVie and former John Mayall guitarist Peter Green in 1967. They’d gone through a host of lineup changes in that time, with guitarists coming and going.
The latest vacancy came in early 2018 when Lindsey Buckingham was fired over a disagreement about the band’s upcoming tour. Along with singer Stevie Nicks, the guitarist had led the foundering group to their greatest success when they joined in the mid 1970s. But Buckingham’s unpredictable nature and desire for solo guitar projects brought instability to their lineup in the group’s later years.
When Buckingham departed for good on the eve of the band’s 2018 tour, Fleetwood went looking for a new guitarist.
Which is when he called Mike Campbell.
“It was on my birthday. I was sitting in my backyard and I was deep in grief,” Campbell tells Rolling Stone .
“The phone rang and it was Mick and he offered me the tour.”
It took him just 24 hours to think it over and say yes. “My wife Marcie and I went,” he explains. “It was like a five-star, paid vacation.”
Neil Finn and Mike Campbell perform in Fleetwood Mac at the 2018 iHeartRadio Music Festival at T-Mobile Arena, in Las Vegas, September 21, 2018. (Image credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for iHeartMedia)
Campbell joined the tour alongside Crowded House guitarist Neil Finn. More than a vacation, the gig saved his soul.
“It really pulled me out of my grief, helped me to focus and process what I was going through,” the guitarist says. “I owe them a debt of gratitude for that.”
Campbell was certainly no stranger to Fleetwood Mac. He knew Nicks from her friendship with Petty and collaborations like their 1981 hit, “Stop Dragging My Heart Around,” from Nicks’ album Pretty Woman .
Stevie Nicks – Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around (Official Video) (HD Remaster) – YouTube
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“Tom had the same influences we had,” Nicks wrote in 2004. “The Byrds, Neil Young, Crosby, Stills and Nash. But he dropped in lots of serious old blues.
“I became such a fan that if I hadn’t been in a band myself, I would have joined that one.”
Nicks developed a friendship with Petty that lasted 40 years, during which time she became close to the Heartbreakers. Campbell calls her “an angel and spiritual sister.”
“She’s just a sweetheart,” he says. “She’s been so kind to me and I have nothing but great respect and love for her.”
As for Nicks’ claim that she would have joined the Heartbreakers in a heartbeat? Campbell says it’s true. But Petty had other ideas.
“Stevie thought she would be good in the band,” he says. “And of course, Tom said, ‘We don’t have girls in the Heartbreakers,’ but she was kind of like the fifth or sixth Heartbreaker in a way.”
Of course, Campbell is the one who worked most closely with Petty, writing songs with him and playing electric guitar alongside him on stages around the world. His new aptly titled memoir, Heartbreaker is a deep exploration of their friendship, musical partnership and music.
As the guitarist recently told Guitar Player “Lord knows what would’ve happened if Tom and I never met. As I wrote the book, I realized how many miracles have happened to me through timing, luck, divine intervention. I started with nothing, and these songs came to me from somewhere. There were chance encounters with my heroes, and of course, there was my relationship with Tom.”
Among those heroes was George Harrison, the former Beatle with whom Petty formed the Traveling Wilburys in the 1980s. Although not part of that group, Campbell helped out on their debut album, but tellingly pushed Harrison to perform the solo on their hit “Handle With Care” when Campbell felt his attempt came up short.
“I just handed him the guitar, I had handed him a slide,” he said. “The amp was already set up, and he just did it. Took the pressure off me!”
