Heartbreakers Guitarist Mike Campbell’s Memoir Revelations (Exclusive)

• Mike Campbell’s recent book Heartbreaker is now a New York Times bestseller
• In a new interview with PEOPLE, Campbell talks about some of the revelations mentioned
• The rocker had three goals in writing the memoir, which he discusses

Until the recent publication of his memoir Heartbreaker, Mike Campbell, who is best known as the founding lead guitarist of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, didn’t set out to write a book. When he was eventually talked into writing an autobiography by a journalist friend, Campbell had three goals.

“Number one: I was not the least bit interested in writing a salacious rock and roll book,” Campbell, 75, tells PEOPLE. “That’s been done, and that’s not really what my life is about. My other goal was to share my relationship with my writing partner, Tom. It’s a really beautiful relationship that people may not understand all the nuances of that. And I want to Illuminate the creative process.”

Co-written with Ari Surdoval, Heartbreaker, which recently debuted on The New York Times best-seller list, details Campbell’s long journey from his underprivileged upbringing in Florida; through the Heartbreakers’ rise to fame and his special bond with Petty; to Petty’s tragic death in 2017 and how Campbell has continued with his current band the Dirty Knobs. 

“I think [Tom] saw in me what I saw in him: somebody who could make what I have better,” says Campbell, who served as Petty’s longtime right-hand man in the Heartbreakers. “We appreciated that about each other. It was something we never spoke about. It just was.”

In a new interview with PEOPLE, Campbell talks about some of the revelations mentioned in Heartbreaker.

Campbell’s Encounter with a Mysterious Guitar-Playing Stranger Left a Deep Impression During His Youth

Growing up in a poor household in Jacksonville, Florida, Campbell developed an interest in the guitar when he first saw the Beatles perform on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1964.  Campbell recalls playing the guitar outside his home one day when a cigarette-smoking stranger approached him, borrowed the guitar, and showed the novice musician some chords. The stranger then left and Campbell never saw him again. 

“It was an inspirational moment because this guy showed up in all leather and the T-shirt rolled up, and he just looked like a guy who’d been around,” says Campbell. ”He’d probably ridden some hobo trains and been in some bar fights. He was a mysterious character. He wasn’t that good on guitar, but neither was I. But he took it and he shook that lick. It lit a fire under me.” 

His High School Guidance Counselor Changed the Course of His Future

One of the many random life-changing moments that to Campbell was when he considered skipping class in high school one day but then changed his mind. On that same day, he reported to his guidance counselor who asked him about his plans after high school. When Campbell told her he didn’t have any other than getting a job, the counselor arranged for him to apply at the University of Florida in Gainesville. He got accepted to that school, a pivotal moment because it was in Gainesville where he would meet his future bandmate Tom Petty. 

“I kind of forgot about that until I started digging into my memories and it popped up,” Campbell says. “When I thought about it, I got emotional because that lady — I’d never met her before — had a kind concern for where I was going to go in my life. If it hadn’t been for her, I probably would’ve stayed home to help my mom or went to junior college. I wish that she was still alive so I could thank her for making my life so good.” (laughs)

A Musical and Personal Bond Is Formed Between Campbell and Petty

From the moment he first met Petty in Gainesville, Florida, in the early 1970s, Campbell knew he was special. Petty convinced Campbell to drop out of college and join his band Mudcrutch full-time.

“I thought he was my brother,” Campbell recalls of their early meeting. “I felt like I knew him. We were so ingrained into the same musical influences and we were the same age. We both had the same ambitions, And we were on the same wavelength right away. We just immediately hit it off and we were friends the rest of our lives.”

Tom Petty Became the Star of the Heartbreakers, Which Caused Some Early Dissension

After the end of Mudcrutch, Petty co-founded the Heartbreakers in 1976 with Campbell, keyboardist Benmont Tench, drummer Stan Lynch and bassist Ron Blair. According to the book, Petty insisted his name be in front of the band’s moniker and earned more money than the rest of the band, which initially caused some resentment. But Campbell acknowledges that it was the right move since Petty was involved in the business negotiations in addition to being the singer and songwriter. 

“Bands are very delicate,” Campbell continues. “I probably felt a little twinge of ‘What do you mean we’re going to change the deal?’ But then I would look at the reality of it. If I was him, I’d want more money too, because I’m doing a lot more than this guy strumming the guitar or this other guy hitting a snare drum.”

Campbell Co-Wrote Don Henley’s “The Boys of Summer,” the Success of Which Saved His Home

Outside of his work with the Heartbreakers, Campbell became a prolific sideman for numerous musicians such as Stevie Nicks, Bob Dylan, Warren Zevon and Margo Price. Most notably, he originated music that Petty initially turned down but became Don Henley’s smash 1984 hit “The Boys of Summer.” The success of that song not only established Campbell as a songwriter on his own, but it also saved the California home that he shared with his wife Marcie and children from being foreclosed. 

“We had planned some Heartbreakers tours, and I got this house,” he recalls. “It wasn’t a mansion, but it was above my means a little bit. I figured when the tours come through, we’ll be fine. I forget why, but the tours got delayed.”

“So [me and Marcie were] sitting there [and] I was going, ‘What are we going to do?’ The accountant said, ‘You should sell it and go rent.’ My wife said, ‘No way. Don’t take away a man’s dream. We’ll be okay.’ The next thing you know, I’m tinkering in the studio all night messing with this song [that would become] “The Boys of Summer.” As it turned out, it got us out of hot water. It showed up just at the right time.”

Campbell Experienced a Life-and-Death Situation

While working on the Heartbreakers’ 1985 album Southern Accents, Campbell one day, he took a bump of what he initially thought was cocaine at the recording studio. After he took it again at his home, he collapsed and went to the hospital. It turned out the drug was speed, which constricted his blood flow to his intestines. The thought of leaving behind his wife and children weighed on his mind. 

“It shut my stomach down, and it was kind of a wake-up call for me,” he now says. “I wasn’t a hardcore druggie. But that one moment, I did get a little confused and did the wrong thing, and I learned a lesson. Thank God I got through that. But [it was] the time, when a lot of people were doing that stuff.  Now I’m over it. There’s a lesson: be careful because your body will shut down on you if you ever do it.”

The Band Had Major Trouble Recording “Refugee”

Throughout the book, Campbell discusses key moments in the Heartbreakers’ recording career, including the classic 1979 album Damn the Torpedoes. He singles out the torturous recording process behind “Refugee,” one of the band’s beloved songs, that led to drummer Lynch briefly leaving the group. 

“That was a particularly hard record,” says Campbell, “because we were really trying to make a step forward, and [producer] Jimmy Iovine was so determined to make the best record ever. And so that put a lot of pressure, especially on the drummer because he’s got to get the track. Back then it was analog. You didn’t have digital where you could cut and paste. So we did the take, and if there was a little blip in the feel or whatever here and there, we’d have to do the whole thing again. People probably don’t understand that sometimes making records is very stressful.”

He Shared the Stage with One of His Idols

Among the rock star encounters Campbell talks about in the book include the Rolling Stones, George Harrison, Stevie Nicks, the Clash’s Joe Strummer and especially his idol Bob Dylan, whom the Heartbreakers backed on his mid-1980s tours.

“‘Well, how did I get here?’ That’s how I felt,” says the guitarist about playing with the legend. “We were all having fun. There were many times I would look around and go, “How did I get here? I’m a poor kid from Jacksonville, now I’m up here living a dream.’ It was just magic once again.”

Tom Petty Gave Campbell Blunt Advice About His Solo Music

Perhaps one of the surprising moments in the book occurred much later in the Heartbreakers’ career when Campbell recalls a phone conversation with Petty about the music he made for his side project the Dirty Knobs. The reaction from Petty upon hearing Campbell’s solo music was very harsh and dismissive: “Nobody is gonna pay to hear this s—.” Stung by the feedback, Campbell did not publicly share his solo music for 15 years.

“It hurt my feelings a little bit,” he says. “But the truth is, Tom would just get to the point, and he was right. I wasn’t ready to go out and play solo. I wasn’t ready to have another band. I wasn’t there yet. So he wasn’t always the most tactful person, but underneath it, it was the truth. And he meant to be kind.”

“It doesn’t make Tom a bad person,” Campbell adds. “It just makes him a person. He’s not a perfect angel who always says the right thing or does the right thing. We could all be mean or untactful at times in certain situations. He had some flaws as we all do, but they weren’t major flaws. And a lot of them, the characteristics were what made him a strong leader. Underneath it all, he was pretty generous and sweet.”

Campbell Recalls His Final Moments with Petty, Who Died in 2017  

The book addresses the death of Petty —  who had previously struggled with a heroin addiction —  in 2017 from an accidental overdose of painkillers that he took for his broken hip amid the Heartbreakers’ 40th-anniversary tour. He recalls in the book saying to Petty, who was on life support, at the hospital, “I love you, brother.”

“I’d already lost one band member, Howie [Epstein in 2003 due to a drug overdose],” Campbell recalls. “Tom didn’t know he was battling. I didn’t really know either. I suspected maybe there’s something going on, but we didn’t talk about what we did in our personal time. We talked about music. So what he did when he was off the tour and home and I didn’t see him, I wasn’t really privy to the personal struggles he might’ve been going through.”

“[I could] tell there was something going on, but that’s his business and it’s my business,” Campbell adds. “He never asked me what I was up to either. It was hard to relive the moment of losing him, but it’s been seven years now. I’m still grieving, but I’m getting through it, and you have to just carry on.”

Campbell also says there was initial talk of postponing the 40th-anniversary tour so that Petty could get his hip fixed. “He said, ‘No. I want to go on this tour,’ I want to play. I want to see the people. If I have a problem in my hip, I’ll take some painkillers or whatever to get through the show.’ He was adamant about, ‘I’m not staying home. I want to do this.’ People think we weren’t sensitive or forced him to do it. That’s a lie. Truth is, he made up his mind. [If] he wanted to do something, you don’t argue with him. He’s going to do it. That’s what happened.”

Touring with Fleetwood Mac Helped Him Through the Grief

Several months after Petty’s death, Campbell was invited to join Fleetwood Mac’s tour in 2018. It was another turning point for Campbell because he worked with Stevie Nicks’ vocal coach to help him further develop his singing ability. That later helped him as the lead singer for the Dirty Knobs, who have since recorded three albums and toured.  

“The Fleetwood Mac tour was a gift from heaven for me,” he says.  “It got me out of my grief a lot. It gave me focus and challenge. During the tour, Stevie [Nicks]’s vocal coach came to me and said, ‘You have something in your voice that I can help you bring out.’ He helped me get my confidence. It was immeasurably helpful when I got off the tour and then I was ready to do my band, and I’m still getting more confidence as I develop it.”