(Credits: Far Out / Ирина Лепнёва)
Fri 23 January 2026 12:17, UK
Tom Petty never intended to be the leader of a band. From his work with his early band Mudcrutch until his final performance with The Heartbreakers, Petty saw himself as just another member of the group rather than the leader out front giving orders. At the end of the day, his name was on the sign when fans walked in, and Stan Lynch never forgave Petty for that.
Then again, the division between Lynch and Petty went back as far as their huge hits. While making the landmark album Damn the Torpedoes, Lynch was put through his paces by producer Jimmy Iovine. Although there were a handful of sessions where Iovine brought in substitute drummers, Petty said: “I will say that when other drummers were brought in, they weren’t Stan Lynch. The Heartbreakers were all fingers on the same hand”.
Once they had found their groove on songs like ‘Refugee’ and ‘Here Comes My Girl’, The Heartbreakers went full steam ahead until the late ‘80s. Needing a change of scenery, Petty made a solo album with fellow Traveling Wilbury Jeff Lynne and guitarist Mike Campbell. Though keyboardist Benmont Tench mentioned not liking that Petty was working without the rest of the band, Lynch was happy to take his foot off the gas during that period, explaining that “there were just a handful of songs on that record that I just didn’t like”.
What The Heartbreakers saw as just a one-off project, Petty saw as the next era for his career. he had found new collaborators to work with, and while it might have been hard to take for the band, there was still no doubt that Petty was the star and he called the shots. With that in mind, he made the call that he would once again work with Lynne on a new project.
Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers(Credit: Alamy)
After touring behind his solo outing, he asked Lynne to return behind the mixing board for The Heartbreakers’ new album Into the Great Wide Open. Written as a Heartbreakers’ take on Petty’s solo album, every one of the songs became a chore for Lynch to get through, remarking in the documentary that “it wasn’t great that I wasn’t allowed to hang. It was ‘Get in here, do your shit, get out of here’. So not really the best environment for me, personally”.
It i a part of being in a band that very few people remember once they hit the big time. Often, the inter-band dynamics are what can change the tone of a record. If you try to remove those, there is naturally going to be some tough studio days, and certainly some hurt feelings.
As Petty embarked on his next solo effort, Wildflowers, he knew that it wouldn’t be a good idea to let Lynch play on the record, drafting session musician Steve Ferrone for most of the tracks. Though Petty was content to play most of the record without Lynch, his label insisted on having a greatest-hits record led to the original Heartbreakers reuniting for the song ‘Mary Jane’s Last Dance’, which turned into one of their biggest hits.
In between breaks for the session, Petty could already feel Lynch pulling away from the band, saying that he didn’t like the material on Wildflowers and thinking that he was in a cover band. Petty even mentioned hearing from one of his friends that Lynch didn’t consider the Heartbreakers his main band anymore. Such potshots wouldn’t be tolerated for too long.
It was one thing for Petty to look elsewhere but, t him, his solo work was not joining another band; it was expressing himself in ways that wouldn’t work for The Heartbreakers. To suggest that another band was preferable to the group was a dagger to the heart and a nail in the coffin.
Before everyone could say goodbye at the session, Lynch was already out the door, having washed his hands of the project and moved to Florida. By the time The Heartbreakers were set to play The Viper Room in Los Angeles, Petty called Lynch only to be told that Lynch was on the East Coast and wouldn’t do the show. After originally bringing in Ringo Starr as a substitute, Lynch didn’t want to get outdone and turned up within 24 hours.
Once they got off the stage, the writing was on the wall that Lynch had to go. Petty couldn’t even bring himself to call him, making his manager, Tony Dimitriades, call Lynch to let him know what their decision was. By the time the receiver picked up, Dimitriades said Lynch’s response said it all, “I heard Stan pick up and say ‘Am I fired?’ I said ‘Yes, you are Stan”.
The Heartbreakers would carry on with Ferrone on drums, but the childhood bond that brought them together had finally reached the end of the line.
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