Credit: Far Out / Tom Petty / Mike Campbell
Tue 6 October 2026 19:00, UK
Seeing The Heartbreakers return in 2026 was not on anybody’s list of musical predictions, but even without their bandleader, Tom Petty, they are still an electric live band that no group would want to follow.
Although their performance at the Americana Music Awards, with Chris Stapleton on vocals, was strictly a one-off, there was a special energy that radiated from Mike Campbell sharing a stage with Benmont Tench, Stan Lynch, and Ron Blair once again.
As much as they were billed as Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, they were never a one-person band. Mike Campbell was a member since day one and played a crucial role in their growth, from starting on the club scene to conquering global arenas. He wasn’t some anonymous session musician that was picked by the label; Campbell was crucial to their sound and identity. Without his presence, they would never have hit such heights.
Although Petty was The Heartbreakers’ chief lyricist, he needed the rest of the band to bring his vision to life and turn them into full-blooded songs. It’s all good and well to be a talented songwriter, but without the help of accomplices, the songs are of little use. Even the great Petty would have been the first to admit that his right-hand man was responsible for much of their shared success.
However, the same can be said for Campbell’s career. Following Petty’s death, it didn’t take long for Fleetwood Mac to recruit his services, which he balanced alongside The Dirty Knobs and session work for some of the most prestigious acts on the planet. Yet, he also needed Petty for the world to take notice of his divine talent, too.
Credit: Far Out / Album Covers / BMG
Their third album together, 1979’s Damn The Torpedoes, changed the course of their lives and finally made the mainstream wake up to their brilliance. It’s a true classic, which gave music lovers a number of iconic hits, including ‘Don’t Do Me Like That’ and ‘Here Comes My Girl’.
But for Campbell, it doesn’t get better than the opening track ‘Refugee’, which he believes to be the best song ever released by The Heartbreakers and Petty.
During a discussion with Vulture, Campbell explained how it was made and why it’s the pinnacle of the band’s career, noting, “It’s so universal and it’s one of the first big hits we wrote together. I had a four-track reel-to-reel tape recorder and a record that had some drum beats on it.”
Further elaborating on how the sausage was made, Campbell added, “I played that on the machine and I made up some chords because I wanted to practice lead guitar, and those chords became ‘Refugee’ as we know it. I gave the music to Tom and he wrote the words. It was a lucky moment for us.”
Petty had a particular soft spot for ‘Refugee’, too, which was his attempt to hit back at the music industry. The Heartbreakers frontman shared, “This was a reaction to the pressures of the music business. I wound up in a huge row with the record company when ABC Records tried to sell our contract to MCA Records without us knowing about it, despite a clause in our contract that said they didn’t have the right to do that.”
“I was so angry with the whole system that I think that had a lot to do with the tone of the Damn the Torpedoes album,” Petty added. “I was in this defiant mood. I wasn’t so conscious of it then, but I can look back and see what was happening.”
After trying to keep their label happy by chasing trends, ‘Refugee‘ was the sound of Petty and The Heartbreakers making it abundantly clear they were done playing the game on anything but their own terms. Within one song, it embodied everything that would make them a peerless act and signified that they had found their voice.
