MIKE CAMPBELL’S HEARTBREAKER, A MEMOIR, DEBUTS ON NEW YORK TIMES’ BEST SELLER LIST

#8 ON HARDCOVER NONFICTION LIST, #9 ON COMBINED PRINT & E-BOOOK NONFICTION LIST

UPCOMING LOS ANGELES BOOK EVENTS INCLUDE BOOK SOUP APRIL 6 AND THE LOS ANGELES TIMES FESTIVAL OF BOOKS WITH PETER WOLF APRIL 27

"essential…[a] vividly told new autobiography"—Rolling Stone

“Heartbreaker is a tale of endurance and patience
rewarded.”—Los Angeles Times

“Some of the book’s most endearing stories are when Campbell, closely associated with Tom Petty, worked alongside and elevated the careers of legends such as Bob Dylan, George Harrison, and Don Henley—all of whom benefited from his improvisational playing style and seemingly never-ending supply of songs.”—New York Magazine / Vulture

“The depth and detail in the 464-page Heartbreaker: A Memoir is impressive—and surprising...it’s spirit-lifting in spots, heart-breaking in others, and it offers a deep and revealing dive that will please Petty fans and guitar geeks alike.”—Billboard

“A candid and lively reflection about [Campbell’s] life and times as one of the world’s preeminent guitarists...Heartbreaker does what the best music memoirs do: encourage readers to listen once again, or for the first time, to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and to Campbell’s solo works.”—No Depression

“[Campbell] offers fascinating insights into the alchemy of songwriting, encouraging longtime Petty fans to listen with fresh ears to decades-old material. The result is an exemplary music memoir.” [Starred Review]—Publishers Weekly

“With captivating candor and a compelling narrative flair, Campbell relives his musical and personal journey.”—Guitar Player

March 27, 2025—Celebrated guitarist and songwriter Mike Campbell’s (Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, Fleetwood Mac) highly anticipated new memoir Heartbreaker, written with Ari Surdoval, makes its debut on the New York Times Best Seller List at #8 on the Hardcover Nonfiction list and #9 on the Combined Print & E-Book Nonfiction list.

Out now via Grand Central Publishing, the book continues to see extensive critical acclaim from Rolling Stone, the Los Angeles Times, New York Magazine, Billboard and many more; order Heartbreaker HERE.

To celebrate the book’s release, Campbell is appearing at Book Soup in Los Angeles for a signing on April 6 as well as at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books in conversation with Peter Wolf on April 27.

Campbell is also on tour with his band The Dirty Knobs this summer, playing a pair of dates with Chris Stapleton before heading out on a co-headlining tour with Blackberry Smoke and opener Shannon McNally. See below for a complete list of dates.

Mike Campbell was the lead guitarist for Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers from the band’s inception in 1976 until Petty’s tragic death in 2017. Campbell’s 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 solo albums Full Moon Fever and Wildflowers, Petty never made a record without Campbell. 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, and the sacrifices required. His rise was an at-times grueling dream come true that took him from the very bottom to the absolute top, where Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers would remain for decades, creating an astonishing body of work.

“This is my book,” Campbell says. “It’s the story of a poor kid from Jacksonville, Florida who realized a dream through music. It’s a long journey through hard work, dedication and luck. Playing guitar and writing songs has been my inspiration and purpose. It’s a story of hope, redemption and gratitude, a testimonial that dreams can come true if you believe in yourself and follow your truth. It took two years to write and it’s a labor of love. I hope you enjoy the ride!”

“Mike Campbell’s Heartbreaker is everything one hopes for in a rock memoir,” notes Ben Schafer, Executive Editor, Grand Central Publishing. “Like the remarkable body of work he co-created with Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, it delivers on every level from beginning to end.”

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.

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Mike Campbell was the lead guitarist, co-songwriter and co-producer of Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers. He recorded, co-wrote and toured with the band for over 40 years and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. In 2018 and 2019, Campbell toured the world as the lead guitarist in Fleetwood Mac. He is currently the lead singer and guitarist of Mike Campbell and the Dirty Knobs, whose most recent critically acclaimed album Vagabonds, Virgins & Misfits is out now on BMG. He lives in Los Angeles.

Ari Surdoval (co-author) is the author of the acclaimed novel Double Nickels. He lives outside Nashville with his wife and two children.

ABOUT GRAND CENTRAL

Grand Central is the flagship imprint of Grand Central Publishing, a division of Hachette Book Group. Publishing approximately 85 titles per year in hardcover, trade paperback, mass market paperback, e-book and audio formats, Grand Central is home to many well-known and debut authors of blockbuster thrillers, award-winning literary novels, popular fiction, intimate memoirs, revelatory pop culture autobiographies and histories, and critically acclaimed narrative nonfiction on topics from true crime to popular science and almost everything in between.

ABOUT HACHETTE BOOK GROUP

Hachette Book Group (HBG) is a leading U.S. general-interest book publisher made up of dozens of esteemed imprints within the publishing groups Basic Books Group, Grand Central Publishing Group, Hachette Audio, Little, Brown and Company, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, Orbit and Workman Running Press Group. They also provide custom distribution, fulfillment and sales services to other publishing companies.

Their books and authors have received the Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, Caldecott Medal, Newbery Medal, Booker Prize, Nobel Peace Prize and other major honors.

They are committed to diversity in their company and publishing programs, and to fostering a culture of inclusion for all their employees and authors. They are proud to be part of Hachette Livre, the world’s third-largest trade and educational publisher. Visit hachettebookgroup.com to learn more about HBG imprints. For updated news follow HBG on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, X.com, and YouTube

For more information, please contact Joe Cohen or Carla Sacks at Sacks & Co., 212.741.1000.

For more information, please contact Megan Perritt-Jacobson at
Grand Central Publishing, 646.341.0401.

MIKE CAMPBELL & THE DIRTY KNOBS TOUR DATES
June 12 /// Grand Rapids, MI /// Van Andel Arena*
June 13 /// Grand Rapids, MI /// Van Andel Arena*
July 25 /// Nashville, TN /// Ryman Auditorium†
July 26 /// Nashville, TN /// Ryman Auditorium†
July 31 /// Lewiston, KY /// Artpark†
August 1 /// Pittsburgh, PA /// Stage AE†
August 2 /// Columbia, OH /// KEMBA Live!†
August 3 /// Roanoke, VA /// Berglund Performming Arts Theatre†
August 5 /// North Charleston, SC /// Firefly Distillery†
August 7 /// Raleigh, NC /// Red Hat Amphitheater†
August 8 /// Charlotte, NC /// Skyla Credit Union Amphitheatre†
August 9 /// Atlanta, GA /// Synovus Bank
Amphitheater at Chastain Park†
August 10 /// Asheville, NC /// Asheville Yards Amphitheater†

*with Chris Stapleton
†with Blackberry Smoke and Shannon McNally