Rick Derringer, the guitarist, songwriter and producer who wrote or contributed to a body of hits spanning decades, died on Monday at the age of 77.
Derringer’s caretaker, Tony Wilson, shared the news on Facebook, and Guitar Player later reported it. The guitarist’s wife, Jenda Derringer, told TMZ he died “peacefully” in his sleep after being taken off life support following a medical episode.
Rick Derringer’s Life and Career
Born Richard Dean Zehringer on Aug. 5, 1947, in Celina, Ohio, and raised in the nearby Fort Recovery, Derringer began his burgeoning music career in earnest when he received his first guitar on his ninth birthday. (“I was a natural,” he told Guitar Player in 2024.) He and his brother Randy Zehringer (later known as Randy Z) formed a band called the McCoys in their teens, with Derringer handling guitar and lead vocals.
The McCoys scored a No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1965 with “Hang on Sloopy,” which became the official rock song of Ohio. The band scored one more Top 10 hit with a cover of the R&B staple “Fever,” and a cover of Ritchie Valens’ “Come On, Let’s Go” reached the Top 40.
In 1970, the McCoys backed Texas blues-rocker Johnny Winter on his album Johnny Winter And, which also served as the group’s name. Derringer soon began working with Winter’s brother, Edgar Winter, contributing to the Edgar Winter Group’s multiplatinum 1972 debut album, They Only Come Out at Night.
Derringer appeared on several more Edgar Winter Group albums as he readied his solo career, releasing his debut solo album, All American Boy, in 1973. The LP contained Derringer’s version of “Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo,” which first appeared on Johnny Winter And. The solo version became Derringer’s signature song, reaching No. 23 on the Hot 100 and showcasing his incendiary guitar chops. (It later appeared on the soundtrack to the 1993 stoner comedy Dazed and Confused and season 4 of Netflix’s Stranger Things.)
All American Boy marked the peak of Derringer’s solo success, but he continued to work with a variety of hit-making artists in the years that followed. He played guitar on a handful of Steely Dan tracks — Countdown to Ecstasy‘s “Show Biz Kids,” Katy Lied‘s “Chain Lightning” and Gaucho‘s “My Rival” — and became a frequent collaborator of his neighbor, Todd Rundgren, playing on several of his records.
Despite Donald Fagen and Walter Becker‘s reputation for merciless perfectionism in the studio, Derringer said he “didn’t have that kind of experience with them. They pretty much just played me the song — ‘Here you go, Rick. We want it to be a blues kind of thing.’ So that’s what I did.”
The 1980s saw Derringer make several notable contributions to rock and pop hits, including Air Supply’s “Making Love Out of Nothing at All” and Bonnie Tyler‘s “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” (He cited the former as one of his favorite guitar solos he ever recorded.) He wrote and recorded for Meat Loaf, Cyndi Lauper, and Barbra Streisand during this time, as well as producing the 1985 World Wrestling Federation release, The Wrestling Album.
Perhaps most significantly, Derringer produced the first six albums by platinum-selling parodist “Weird Al” Yankovic. Their partnership netted Derringer two Grammys for the Michael Jackson parodies “Eat It” and “Fat.” The former featured a scorching guitar solo from Derringer to approximate Eddie Van Halen‘s contribution to the original — a full-circle moment, he explained.
“What’s interesting is, Eddie told us that he copied that style from listening to us,” Derringer told Guitar Player. “The guitar player in the Rick Derringer band was Danny Johnson, and I asked him to play with us because he was one of the first people I ever saw who did that style. That was one of the reasons he got the gig. Eddie Van Halen said he was a big fan of that band, and he came to see us play regularly.”
Derringer’s career slowed in the ’90s. He became a born-again Christian near the end of the decade and released several Christian music albums with his family in the 2000s. He toured with Ringo Starr & His All-Starr Band from 2010-11 and took part in Peter Frampton‘s 2013 Guitar Circus alongside B.B. King, Don Felder, Leslie West, Steve Lukather and more.
“People would like me to continue playing the music that I played when I was a teenager or when I was in my twenties,” Derringer told Guitar Player in 2024 while discussing his most recent album, 2023’s poppy, ballad-heavy Rock the Yacht, which he recorded with his wife Jenda. “They want me to rock ‘n’ roll over and over like a young guy. But I’m not a young guy — I’m 76, so we do grow older and our musical tastes change a little bit.”
Yet even as Derringer’s tastes changed, his musical philosophy remained the same. “As far as musicianship, that comes from your heart,” he told Jazz Weekly. “Good songs are good songs.”
Simon House, the former keyboardist for Hawkwind and violinist for David Bowie, has died at the age of 76.
The musician’s passing was confirmed by his daughter. The social media account for Cleopatra Records – with whom House issued several releases – shared the following statement honoring the late rocker:
“It’s with heavy hearts that we say goodbye to our dear friend and brilliant collaborator. Simon wasn’t just a musician — he was a sonic architect who helped shape the sound of a generation. He shared the stage with legends: David Bowie, Lemmy-era Hawkwind, and Nik Turner, always leaving his unmistakable mark.
“From the art-rock brilliance of Bowie’s ‘Boys Keep Swinging’ era to the boundary-pushing tours with Nik and Cleopatra in the ’90s, Simon’s electrifying violin and cosmic keyboard work lifted every track, every show, every moment. His vision brought depth, texture, and soul — he simply made everything better.We miss you deeply, Simon. Rest easy, my friend. Your sound lives on.”
Who Was Simon House?
Born in Nottingham, England, House began his musical career in 1960s London, initially with the group High Tide. Though he started as the group’s bassist, House switched to violin at the suggestion of his bandmates.
In 1973 House joined the lineup of Hawkwind, replacing the group’s previous synth player, Del Dettmar. House’s impact could be felt beginning with the band’s 1974 album Hall of the Mountain Grill, which expanded Hawkwind’s space rock sound.
House’s tenure with Hawkwind coincided with the final years of Lemmy Kilmister’s run with the band. The bassist was fired in 1975, the day before the release of their fifth studio album, Warrior on the Edge of Time. House remained until 1978, contributing to a total of five studio releases during this initial run.
The musician’s next stop was with Bowie’s live band, beginning with 1978’s Isolar II world tour. House’s contributions can be heard prominently on Bowie’s Stage live album, recorded during the trek. The multi-instrumentalist also contributed to Bowie’s 1979 LP Lodger, including its hit single “Boys Keep Swinging.”
House later became a popular session musician, playing on a wide variety of material throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s. Thomas Dolby, Mike Oldfield and former Hawkwind members Robert Calvert and Nik Turner were among the artists he collaborated with. House released a pair of albums under his own name, and even returned to Hawkwind for two additional runs from 1989 to 1991, and from 2001 to 2003.
Feature Photo: Jim Summaria, http://www.jimsummariaphoto.com, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
Rick Derringer, whose influence touched everything from 1960s garage rock to wrestling anthems and arena tours, has died at the age of 77. His death was confirmed by his caretaker Tony Wilson and Guitar Player magazine. He passed away Monday evening in Ormond Beach, Florida. No cause of death has been publicly disclosed, though Derringer had reportedly been in poor health in recent months.
Born Richard Dean Zehringer in Ohio in 1947, Derringer was barely 18 when he scored a No. 1 hit with “Hang On Sloopy” as lead singer of the McCoys. The track, produced by the Strangeloves and released in 1965, became a cultural fixture—particularly in Derringer’s home state of Ohio, where it remains a staple at football games and local events. The McCoys opened for the Rolling Stones on their first U.S. tour, but the band would never match the commercial success of that debut single.
Derringer’s career pivoted quickly in the late ’60s when he began working with Johnny Winter, and later joined Edgar Winter’s band. It was during this time that he produced the Edgar Winter Group’s instrumental powerhouse “Frankenstein,” which topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 1973. He replaced Ronnie Montrose in the band shortly thereafter, holding the position of guitarist and producer through their most visible years.
That same year, Derringer launched his solo career with the now-classic “Rock and Roll Hootchie Koo,” a track that became a radio mainstay and was later featured in the Netflix series Stranger Things. His solo band, simply named Derringer, became a fixture on the touring circuit, known for their wild stage antics, including mid-show guitar tosses across the stage.
Derringer’s reach extended far beyond his own recordings. As a session guitarist, he appeared on albums by Steely Dan (Katy Lied, Gaucho), Todd Rundgren, Barbra Streisand, and Kiss. His guitar solos featured prominently on Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart” and Air Supply’s “Making Love Out of Nothing at All,” both composed by Jim Steinman.
In the mid-1980s, Derringer’s guitar skills found a new audience through professional wrestling. He co-wrote and produced the WWF’s The Wrestling Album in 1985, including the now-iconic “Real American” theme song for Hulk Hogan. That anthem, originally recorded for tag team The U.S. Express, went on to be used not only by Hogan but by figures as diverse as Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and Donald Trump during political events.
Derringer’s career later included collaborations with Cyndi Lauper—he played on her True Colors album and joined her on tour—as well as Christian music projects alongside his wife, Jenda. He also performed with Ringo Starr’s All Starr Band and shared stages with Peter Frampton and Carmine Appice, continuing to tour well into his later years.
Beyond the records and fame, Derringer remained a staple of the classic rock community. He wasn’t just a player—he was a builder of moments. His early hit with “Hang On Sloopy” captured a cultural shift, his work with the Winter brothers defined a sound, and his solo music bridged generations. He remained a consistent presence across decades, genres, and even industries, leaving behind a body of work that stretches from teenage rock dreams to enduring American anthems.
Rick Derringer is survived by his wife Jenda and leaves behind a legacy that spans nearly every corner of American music history—from rock’s golden era to the squared circle of pop culture.
Brian Kachejian was born in Manhattan and raised in the Bronx. He is the founder and Editor in Chief of ClassicRockHistory.com. He has spent thirty years in the music business often working with many of the people who have appeared on this site. Brian Kachejian also holds B.A. and M.A. degrees from Stony Brook University along with New York State Public School Education Certifications in Music and Social Studies. Brian Kachejian is also an active member of the New York Press.
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Of all 2025’s major music festivals, Wide Awake was arguably the most imperilled. In the weeks leading up to the staging of London’s most diverse, eclectic and consistently excellent alternative music all-dayer, Wide Awake was in danger of losing both its headline act (Kneecap) and indeed its home (Brockwell Park in South London), for legal reasons that you very likely have read about.
Happily, on May 23, the event went ahead as planned, drawing 20,000 music fans for a fabulous day out which not only featured artists from across the musical spectrum, but also main stage appearances from Jeremy Corbyn (MP for Islington North since 1983) and doctors from Médecins Sans Frontières, who spoke movingly about their humanitarian efforts in Gaza.
On a day characterised by brilliant music, passionate speeches, and a genuine sense of community, here are nine artists who helped define Wide Awake 2025.
Gurriers (Shacklewell Arms stage)
Given their uncharitably early slot, it’s a surprise to find the tent housing Gurriers already packed to the point of serious overspill by the time they take the stage. But perhaps it shouldn’t have been, given the Dublin-based quintet’s position as one of the frontrunners of the latest wave of excellent Irish punk music making its way from that ever-fertile scene. People crane their necks to get a glimpse of the band as they make their way through tracks from 2024’s Come And See album, including apparent fan favourites Des Goblin and Approachable, with a tent-wide chant along to Sign Of The Times. Meanwhile, members of the crowd fly Irish and Palestinian flags, respond raucously to the band’s calls to “free Palestine!” and crowdsurf with an intensity rarely seen this early on a Friday afternoon. It’s noisy, it’s fun, and it’s precisely how we like to kick off a festival. [BE]
Nadine Shah (Wide Awake stage)
Following an extremely well-received main stage appearance from Jeremy Corbyn, the greatest Prime Minister Britain never had, Nadine Shah delights the late afternoon crowd with an energetic, and at times emotional, set largely drawn from last year’s Filthy Underneath album. The moodily pulsing Ladies For Babies (Goats For Love) andGreatest Dancer might be songs better suited to the hours of darkness, much like the all-black attire chosen by everyone onstage, but they translate perfectly in the sunshine, and Shah’s decision to bring on The Pogues’ Spider Stacy for an uproarious whirl through The Boys From The County Hell goes down brilliantly with a crowd largely drawn from London’s Irish community. Out The Way is another masterstroke, a song about cultural alienation which takes on an extra resonance in the current climate with lyrics such as “Where would you have them go? A generation searching for a home“. Powerful stuff. [PB]
Mannequin Pussy (Bad Vibrations stage)
(Image credit: Luke Dyson)
One of Wide Awake’s strengths is the genuine diversity of its bills each year – if you want punk-tinged country, indie-rock big-band hybrids, or nn-tssnn-tss dance music, you’re covered – but sometimes at a festival you just want to watch a punk band who make you want to chuck your beer in the air and rampage your way to the front, which is precisely what Mannequin Pussy deliver.
There’s a lot more to the US group than that, however, as they showcase their chameleonic ability to marry that furious energy with intricate songwriting and a sprinkling of pop nous, flitting between dreamy jangle pop, grunge and hardcore beatdowns often all within the space of a single song. Their set is underpinned by a sense of righteous resistance, with frontperson Marisa Dabice’s precise showmanship interspersed with rousing speeches decrying their government’s ongoing “complicity in genocide”, and the by this point obligatory calls for a free Palestine. [BE]
Frankie & The Witch Fingers (Shacklewell Arms stage)
At Wide Awake 2021, the festival’s inaugural staging, Slift played the So Young tent and absolutely blew away an audience who knew very little about them beforehand. In 2025, in the Shacklewell Arms tent, Frankie & The Witch Fingers hit with similar impact. Self-identifying as “psych-punk shapeshifters” the Los Angeles-based quintet share more than a little of the Oh Sees’ restless creativity, and they’re an absolute blast, crashing through a thrillingly intense set largely drawn from 2023’s Data Doom album, with the cleverly-titled Mild Davis and the full-tilt Electricide among its highlights. The band have headline club shows in Brighton, London, Bristol and Birmingham this week before they head back across the Atlantic: go see them if you possibly can. [PB]
Frankie & The Witch Fingers @ Wide Awake, Brockwell Park, London 23/05/25 – YouTube
One of the more depressing sights of last summer’s UK festival season was the BBC’s coverage of Scotland’s TRNSMT festival showing Psychedelic Porn Crumpets playing to a lacklustre crowd that could have been comfortably fitted onto a local bus. Happily, at Wide Awake the Perth, Australia sextet receive an infinitely more enthusiastic welcome, the Moth Club tent packed out as Jack McEwan’s band take the stage. It’s a measure of the PPC’s confidence that they perform no fewer than three songs from new album Carpe Diem, Moonman, which only came into the world one week ago, with Weird World Awoke a very fitting choice given the setting. But its fan favourites Hymn For A Droid and Found God In A Tomato which gets those in attendance cutting loosest, securing another victory for a gloriously imaginative band whose time has definitely come. [PB]
English Teacher (Wide Awake stage)
(Image credit: Luke Dyson)
As with many bands on today’s line-up, English Teacher are unafraid to give vocal support to Kneecap in the wake of rapper Mo Chara being charged with a terror offence. Referencing the ongoing slaughter in Gaza, vocalist/guitarist Lily Fontaine tells the crowd, “This particular conflict will end, and when it does, like all others, there will be those who took the side of the oppressor and those who took the side of the oppressed. We are proud to share the stage with people who stand up against oppression.” Deserved winners of last year’s Mercury Prize, the Leeds quartet showcase the excellence of This Could Be Texas in their 45 minutes onstage, with superb singles R&B and The World’s Biggest Paving Slab particular high points. [PB]
Sprints (Bad Vibrations stage)
The first time I saw Sprints play, at the tiny Waiting Room venue in Stoke Newington in May 2021, they played every song they had, and were forced to bang out a cover of Wet Leg’s Chaise Longue in order to appease a crowd begging for encores. Today, it’s a measure of how far the band have come, and their confidence for what lies ahead, that, playing beneath Fat Dog and Peaches on the site’s second-largest stage, the Dublin quartet roll out a clutch of new songs destined for the follow-up to 2024’s Letter To Self. This might not be the most crowd-pleasing approach – there’s a woman from Dublin standing behind me who screams out for Literary Mind every single time Karla Chubb prepares to introduce a song- but you have to respect the flex. Of the more familiar tunes, it’s Up And Comer, Little Fix and – yes – Literary Mind that connect best, but it’ll be fascinating to hear these muscular new songs on record, whenever that may be. [PB]
CMAT (Wide Awake stage)
(Image credit: Lukje Dyson)
CMAT’s punky/country-tinged pop music might not be standard Louder fare, but what an outstanding performer Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson is. Resplendent in orange, the 29-year-old Dubliner grabs Wide Awake’s attention from minute one, and draws effusive praise from Kneecap later in the evening. There’s a live debut for the singer/songwriter’s deceptively spiky recent single Take a Sexy Picture Of Me, and for the unreleased, and gloriously-titled, The Jamie Oliver Petrol Station – featuring the instantly iconic chorus lyric “Okay, don’t be a bitch” – while Have Fun! and I Wanna Be A Cowboy, Baby! are tried-and-trusted party starters. CMAT is already a star, but she’s going to be an even bigger one when her forthcoming third album Euro-Country emerges in August. [PB]
Kneecap (Wide Awake stage)
(Image credit: Garry Jones)
A lot has been written about Kneecap in the weeks since their performance at Coachella festival made them the most world’s notorious band, almost all of it written by people who had never previously listened to the band, or saw the band perform, much less actually spoken to rappers Mo Chara (Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh), Móglaí Bap (Naoise Ó Cairealláin) or DJ Próvaí (JJ Ó Dochartaigh). In the days before Wide Awake, founder and booker Keith Miller admitted with commendable honesty that the noise around the trio, and specifically uncertainties as to whether the group might be forced off the bill, had impacted on ticket sales for the event, making their presence here atop the bill in front of a 20,000-strong crowd a statement in itself.
“They tried to stop this gig,” Mo Chara says at the outset. “Honestly lads, you have no idea how close we were to being pulled off this gig. Has anybody been watching the news?”
But if anyone was expecting Kneecap to return to the stage with heads bowed, they truly know nothing about the West Belfast/Derry band.
“What a privilege it is to play in front of you sound cunts”, Mo Chara says following Amach Anocht, the set’s second song, before referencing the criminal charge hanging over him.
“I went for an interview with the counter-terror police,” he says, “and within days, they came to a verdict that they were going to charge me. Never has it been that quick. And the reason it was that quick, is because Glastonbury is just around the corner. They’re trying to silence us from speaking onstage at Glastonbury the way we did at Coachella. That’s a fact. Fuck them.”
“There’s your headlines for tomorrow, Daily Mail,” adds Móglaí Bap.
Truthfully, anyone seeking attention-grabbing soundbites tonight could garner enough to fill a tabloid newspaper front page within minutes.
“Anybody else getting done for terror offences or just me?” Mo Cahara says at one point, before his fellow rapper suggests that “if anyone is about on the 18th of June” they should come along to Westminster Magistrates’ Court to support his friend.
“Get a big bag of ket [ketamine] and we’ll go and sit on the steps,” Mo Chara says.
When they’re not making light of the upcoming trial, re-affirming their support for Palestine, or being forced to pause to accommodate chants of “Free Mo Chara”, the trio play the songs which have propelled them to festival headliner status less than 12 months on from the release of their debut album, Fine Art, a remarkable state of affairs by any metric.
So here’s a non-controversial opinion about this most controversial of bands, the truth of which can be easily verified by analysing the plentiful footage of tonight’s set online, or indeed by reading the rave reviews printed this weekend in even the most right-wing British newspapers : Kneecap are among the very, very best live acts on these islands. And accordingly, songs such as I’m Flush, infectious new single The Recap, riotous dance anthem Rhino Ket and set-closer H.O.O.D. cause absolute pandemonium here among the biggest audience they’ve ever played to. It ensures that Wide Awake 2025 ends in euphoria, and doubtless no small amount of relief for the promoters who backed the band under the most challenging of circumstances.
And the truth is that, regardless of what happens on June 18, the Kneecap story is only just beginning. [PB]
(Image credit: Garry Jones)
Briony is the Editor in Chief of Louder and is in charge of sorting out who and what you see covered on the site. She started working with Metal Hammer, Classic Rock and Prog magazines back in 2015 and has been writing about music and entertainment in many guises since 2009. Her favourite-ever interviewee is either Billy Corgan or Kim Deal. She is a big fan of cats, Husker Du and pizza.
“Bruce is going after Trump because Bruce, his whole life, he’s been about truth, justice, democracy, equality,” Morello declared to the thousands in attendance for his Sunday set. “And Trump is mad at him because Bruce draws a bigger audience. Fuck that guy!”
Morello – who has collaborated extensively with Springsteen in the past – also remarked that the performance could be the “last big event before they throw us all in jail.” The rocker’s set list included a conver of the Boss’ “The Ghost of Tom Joad.” Meanwhile, Morello’s stage featured a backdrop that prominently displayed the words “Fuck Trump,” while the phrase “Fuck ICE” was written on the back of his guitar.
Tom Morello Joins Chorus of Rockers Denouncing Trump
Morello is one of many notable rockers who have recently decried Trump. Neil Youngimplored the president to “Stop thinking about what rockers are saying. Think about saving America from the mess you made.” Meanwhile, Eddie Vedder chimed in on Trump’s battle with Springsteen.
“The name-calling is so beneath us,” the Pearl Jam frontman remarked. “Bruce has always been as pro-American with his values and liberty, and his justice has always remained intact. And I’m saying this now to be sure this freedom to speak will still exist in a year or two when we come back to this microphone.”
On March 18, 2025, the day Mike Campbell’s memoir Heartbreaker came out, he posted the opening sentence of the book on his Instagram account: “You don’t know about me without having heard a band by the name of Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers.”
And he’s right. But that’s about to change. Up until the publication of his book (written with novelist Ari ‘Double Nickels’ Surdoval), probably everything you knew about Campbell was contained in the sound of those 13 albums by the Heartbreakers – the band he helped found in 1976, as lead guitarist, co-writer (writing or co-writing 36 songs in the Heartbreakers’ mighty canon) and co-captain, as he often likes to describe himself. But perhaps a more accurate term is liege lord: the only Heartbreaker to appear on all three of Petty’s solo albums, he was the singer’s right-hand man, apologist and sometimes dragon-slayer. He stood to the left of Petty on stage for four decades, dark, quiet, watchful, cool and a little dangerous-looking, an inscrutable contrast to Petty’s rangy, tow-headed, insider deportment and brutal confidence.
While they were markedly different in temperament, demeanour and core competency, what bounded the two were a shared a British Invasion sensibility in the music they loved – not common among their Northern Florida brethren – and dreaming the same dream, a dream they could only achieve together. Although if cornered, both would have been loath to admit it.
“Tom never doubted that we would make it,” Campbell writes in the intro to Heartbreaker. “He always knew we were going to the top. Nothing was going to stop him. He was little and he was skinny, but he could be unbreakable. He could withstand pressure like nobody I have ever seen. Tom Petty was one of the toughest people I have ever met, but it could make him hard on people.”
Including Campbell.
Petty was always seen as the ‘people’s rock star’, the link between the common man and the rock stars up on Valhalla, like his bandmates in the Travelin’ Wilburys. Campbell paints a more complicated picture of his friend and bandmate, breaking the code of band silence about what it was like to work with the driven, often volatile, frontman.
(Image credit: Chris Phelps/Press)
From their first days in Mudcrutch, a swampy psychedelic rock’n’roll band they formed on a rundown farm outside Gainesville, Florida, in 1970, Campbell was at Petty’s side. He was at his bedside during his last moments, after he’d suffered heart failure following an accidental drug overdose a week after the Heartbreakers finished a three-night stint at the Hollywood Bowl on September 25, 2017, closing out their 40th Anniversary Tour.
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“I think I’ll be grieving Tom’s death all my life,” says Campbell, in the lounge of his studio in Woodland Hills, California. It’s apparent that he still hasn’t fully accepted it, although Petty has been gone more than seven years – he still speaks of his partner in the present tense.
Among the things fans will find when reading the book is that the psychic costs of success are higher than most might imagine. Even something seemingly as mundane as naming the band is fraught with dominance and submission within the band.
It’s not only Petty that Campbell portrays in incisive, obsessive detail. He provides a sitcom-worthy profile of bandmate Stan Lynch, and the indignities and near-psychological warfare the drummer suffered at the hands of producer Jimmy Iovine and engineer Shelly Yakus while they were recording 1979’s Damn The Torpedoes. He recalls the kindness and humanity of blues-grouch Al Kooper, who brings bandmate Benmont Tench a turkey sandwich when he was in rehab, showing a much different side of the Super Session organist/organiser. There’s a hilarious yet edifying exchange with Gene Simmons, when the Heartbreakers opened for Kiss, in which the bassist explains the difference between primary, secondary and tertiary markets and which days of the week you should play each, as if delivering a lecture from the mount. There are bon mots about George Harrison (who asks him if he dyes his hair!), John Lydon, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash (his father’s favourite artist), and a chance meeting with destiny, a dog, and the woman who would become his wife of 50 years.
At the centre of the book, despite all the machinations, power struggles, betrayals, unexpected quirks of character and shifts of loyalties, the brushes with drugs and the death of a bandmember, Heartbreaker is not a tale of ruthless ambition and treachery, or even a tell-all, but one of endurance and transformation, and a man’s love story for a band, a woman and an era.
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers in 1981: Mike Campbell, left, and Tom Petty, centre. (Image credit: Lynn Goldsmith/Corbis)
What motivated you to write Heartbreaker? What story did you feel that you needed telling, and why right now?
Well, to be honest, I didn’t think I needed to tell any of the stories and I wasn’t intending to write a book at all. It never even crossed my mind until my friend Jaan Uhelszki said she knew an author that was keen to write a book about me, Ari Surdoval, who turned out to be a great partner. So it came into my lap without me looking for it. I just dug into my memory banks and talked for hours and hours.
Were there things you didn’t get to say to Tom that you wished you had?
Truthfully, I had no burning desire to say anything to Tom that I never said to him when he was alive. I did sit with him at his [hospital] bedside, and I know he could hear me. He couldn’t talk, but I told him all the things I say in the book.
Your portrayal of Tom is of someone more complex and complicated than his public persona. Was it difficult for you to show his ruthlessness?
Ruthless? Really? I told the truth. I didn’t feel I had to show Tom’s hard side any more than his sweet side. His hard side, compared to a lot of people, was not that hard. He was driven and ambitious, but ‘ruthless’ sounds a bit harsh. Maybe it was domineering and controlling and powerful, but ‘ruthless’ sounds like there’s some kind of evil intent underneath it. There never was with him.
You talk about Tom’s “unbreakable” confidence. Was that contagious for the rest of the band?
Well I wish I’d have had some of his confidence. I was insecure and unsure about things. Thank god I had a partner who had those characteristics. Did it rub off on the rest of us? Yeah, it did. He was a leader. He was like the coach: “Okay, we’re going to win the game.”
You write: “Sometimes he made me so angry I couldn’t look at him, but nothing could ever split us up. Early on we made some unspoken deal that we’re going down the line together no matter what.” Did you know immediately, and was the connection just about the music?
It was immediate. It was the same when I met my wife. I immediately knew that there’s a connection here and this is going to be a long-term relationship. With Tom it was mostly the music, but I also just liked the dude. He’s fun to hang with, he was funny, he was smart, he respected my opinions and my intellect, whatever I had of it, we had great discussions about music, and we were just friends.
Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers – American Girl (Live) – YouTube
At the heart of the book, for me, are two love stories: number one for your band – you go to any lengths to preserve it – the other one is meeting your future wife, Marcie, in 1974.
Yes. The most beautiful thing about our relationship is when Marcie met me I was nobody. When we first met, she didn’t know if I was worth a shit or not. But we connected without all that shrapnel around us. It was just, you’re a sweet little kid who’s lost; I’m lost too. I like you for who you are, the little boy in there, not the rock star. No one else could ever give me that. Very few rock marriages survive, and probably most of it’s because the connection is about the star or the lifestyle and not about the little boy inside.
You were in your band for forty-one years. You’ve been married for almost fifty years. Do you think, being a child of divorce, you would go to any lengths to keep things together?
It’s my theory, it’s the best I can come up with. Maybe the emotional tumultuous moment was when my parents split up. I didn’t like that feeling, and so going forward in my life I didn’t want to have things break up.
You talk about your insecurity and doubt, but what was the moment where you started to believe in your talent?
I don’t remember the specific situation, but as a rule the better I got on the guitar, the more girls would talk to me. And then of course when I met Tom he was very supportive. That gave me confidence. [Producer] Denny Cordell was a heroic figure for me. I never thought I could write until he told me I could. Rick Rubin did that too. He recognised something in me. There’s been lots of times along the way. George Harrison was so kind to me and complimented me. Dylan. And those little moments give you confidence along the way. Because musicians, most of them that are any good, are probably insecure. I still have trouble playing demos for Marcie. It’s a tortured-artist effect. It’s hard to play music that you’ve written for someone. It’s like being overly transparent and naked.
It’s funny that the rest of us think you artists live on Mount Olympus without a care in the world.
I think a lot of fans don’t realise what mental and physical sacrifice and hard work goes into keeping a band together and becoming successful. Sleeping on mattresses for years, eating bologna sandwiches, driving around in Econoline vans in the snow and getting a flat tyre. They think you just walk into the studio, go la-di-dah, there’s a hit single, and off we go.
Mike Campbell and Tom Petty onstage at London‘s Hammersmith Odeon in 1977 (Image credit: Ian Dickson/Redferns)
You talk about Tom separating himself from the band – having his own bus, his own dressing room – and you said he was like Elvis. What was the clearest indication of that change? Did you feel the connection between him and the band was getting more tenuous?
It was not a big moment when he got his own bus, but until then the band was always in the van, always in the same bus, always around each other, for years. For Tom, I thought he’s probably sick of us. We’re probably sick of him. We’d talked about everything there is to talk about, and we probably need some space. It wasn’t a big deal, but there was a line drawn.
But that wasn’t the end of it. When Elliot Roberts came in as part of the management team, he called a meeting and informed the band – Tom wasn’t there – that going forward, Tom would receive fifty per cent of the profits and you, Benmont Tench, Stan Lynch and Ron Blair would split the other half among the four of you.
Everybody wants to talk about that!
Since you put it in the book, you have to talk about it. You convinced the rest of the band that it was better to stay than quit the band. Why weren’t you resentful?
Well, first of all I really like Elliot. He was always stoned and making jokes and maybe bent the truth now and then to tell you what you wanted to hear. Even if he was being hardass, people liked him anyway.
The band meeting was awkward and I didn’t have time to prepare for it. The new split wasn’t like we were going to talk about it, it was this has already been decided and take it or leave it. My first reaction was like when Tom got his own bus: we’ve always done everything together. It’s always been five for one and one for all. Now it’s not.
Then he laid it out for us: this guy’s doing this, this, this, this, this, this, this. They shouldn’t get as much money as this guy who’s doing all the shit. Meaning Tom. I completely got that. And like I said in the book, I figured, well, why bellyache over this? It’s logical, and if I was Tom I’d probably be saying the same thing. If we don’t get hung up on this issue we can all do well. Which we did. At that point we hadn’t seen the money yet, but we could feel that we were going to be successful. We were already playing bigger places and the records were selling more. So I thought, just sit back and enjoy the ride, don’t get hung up on greed. I think some of the other guys got a little more threatened and emotional about it. I saw that, and I said: “Try to look at it my way.” They finally got it and everybody calmed down.
Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers – Refugee – YouTube
Did you feel similarly when you asked him for a raise? When you made Damn The Torpedoes you were contributing more than just playing guitar: co-writing Refugee and Here Comes My Girl, doing a lot of arrangements, coming up with a lot of the hooks and putting finishing touches on the tracks. You told him: “I was thinking maybe I could get a little bit more of the pie on this one, because I was such a bigger part of it.” And he just stared at you and said: “Yeah, but I’m Tom Petty.”
It was even more comical, because I kinda knew he was going to outfox me, because he always did. But the truth is, after that conversation he did turn around and give me production points on the sly; the band didn’t know about it. So the outcome of that conversation of “I’m Tom Petty” was he went home and thought about it. “Mike’s probably got a point. I’ll give him a point.” On [1989 solo album] Full Moon Fever he gave me a huge chunk.
When he said that it was like I can’t really argue with that. Checkmate. Like: “Yeah, but I’m Mike Campbell.” He would be like: “Well nobody knows who that is.” You got me there. You couldn’t pull the wool over his eyes, and he would draw his line and he would convince you that that’s where the line had to be.
Can we talk a little about working with Jeff Lynne, who did production on Full Moon Fever? He asked you if you had anything to contribute, and you said you didn’t. You said it was a wake-up call for you. What did you mean by that?
First of all, it was inspiring and exciting to work with Jeff. When he came in the room, you really did want to try harder. But the thing I learned was that you had to come with your best stuff, or he’d do something better.
I always felt he was gently pushing me to be the best I could be, and he always seemed to get excited when I would do something good, which would inspire me more. Jeff has this thing – he’s really dead-on with pitch, especially with singing. He can tell if it’s a little sharp or flat. Tom and I used to laugh, because if it was a little off, he’d peer over his glasses and give us this glare. We finally said to him: “Look, Jeff, whatever you do, just don’t give us the eye.”
You were asked to play guitar on the Traveling Wilburys track Handle With Care.
Jeff said play something like Eric Clapton.
Mike Campbell onstage with Bob Dylan at Farm Aid in 2023 (Image credit: Gary Miller/Getty)
But you decided after you played it that George Harrison should play it instead.
Picture the vibe of the song. It’s a gentle little pop song. It gets to the middle and here comes Eric Clapton. I did my best version of trying to play in that mould, but I knew it wasn’t my best stuff. I felt really bad because Tom was really trying to involve me in the whole thing, he and Jeff. I tried to push it off to George. I wanted the heat off me, like please don’t use that guitar part. It’s not that good. And Jeff was going no, it’s great. And George is going yeah, it’s great. I had the sound up in my guitar, so I just handed it to George and he pulled out a slide… the rest is history. When you hear what George played, it’s a hundred times better than what I played.
You talk about times you spent with George Harrison where you forgot who he was. And you say: “Sometimes it seemed like he did too.” Did you feel that being an ex-Beatle was a huge burden for him?
Of course it was. For all of them. But he dealt with it pretty well. I think the spirituality side of him helped him get through all that. But by the time I was hanging out with him he was not overly spiritual. He just wanted to be the musician, he wanted to be in the gang. It was the same with all those guys. When you first meet them, like Dylan or Johnny Cash, it’s like: “Oh my God, this aura is so intense.” After a while it’s like just two musicians talking about music. Bob once said to me: “I can’t talk to regular people. I don’t know what they have on their minds, but I can talk to a musician.” There’s an affinity there.
After you play your first session with Bob Dylan, he turns to you and says: “What do you think?” Quoting from the book: “The room fell silent. I froze. I gulped. Then I said: ‘It’s really long.’” Do you think he was surprised that you told him what you really thought?
I don’t think he heard the truth that much. As soon as I said it, I thought: “Oh, I just insulted him.” But he started laughing. He said: “Well gee, Mike, would you mind playing on it anyway?”
Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs – Wreckless Abandon (Official Music Video) – YouTube
At one point, you realise you’re writing more songs that Tom even had time to listen to, so you decided to start recording some of them yourself with a band you put together called the Dirty Knobs. You let Tom hear some of your solo stuff and he tells you: “It’s better than Keith Richards’s solo stuff, I’ll give you that.” Which at first you thought he meant as a compliment. Then he said: “What are you doing? It sounds like a bad impression of me!” It’s a particularly painful part of the book.
Well, it tapped into my insecurity. I already was afraid that I shouldn’t put it out. So when Tom said it, it didn’t surprise me that much. Plus I had expected him to have an adverse “don’t do this” reaction, because that was just his nature.
I think I even said: “Well, if it sounds like you that must sound pretty good, right?” “Yeah, but you don’t want to do that.” He asked me: “Are these songs great?” And I said: “Well, I don’t know, they’re pretty good.” “Well if they’re really great, why don’t we do them?” It’s like checkmate once again.
As I look back on it now, I’m glad I waited, because now I’m ready. I was barely learning to sing and write on my own. And so even though he was a little untactful, he was right. He did call me back the next day and go: “I’m really sorry, I was in a bad mood, but you really shouldn’t be doing this right now. We’re busy, and you don’t want to distract from the Heartbreakers.”
How were you able to move through the grief of Tom’s death?
I had no inkling he would go so early. I always wondered who would go first. We had plans to do another record and a follow-up tour to that, just keep on going. My grief was debilitating at first, and I’m still grieving. I feel his presence sometimes on stage when I do certain songs, and I’ll get a little choked up. It’s been over seven years now, so it’s a long time to still be grieving. But one way I got through the grieving process, which I learned from Al-Anon [a support group for people who have been affected by someone else’s drinking], is if you’re of service to somebody else and their issues and their dramas, that’s the best healing for you too. So I tried to do that in any way I could.
On your birthday, February 1, in 2018, Mick Fleetwood called you and asked how you would feel about joining Fleetwood Mac, to replace Lindsay Buckingham. Did that assuage any of the fresh grief? Tom had just been gone four months.
Yeah, it gave me something else to focus my mind on. I thought I was going to join the band, we were going to make a record, and then I realised, oh, they just want me for the tour. Which is fine. It was the greatest tour ever! Marcie went too, and it was like a paid vacation around the world. They treated us like royalty. The gigs were great. I enjoyed playing those songs. It was like a gift to me.
Mike Campbell & The Dirty Knobs in 2025 (Image credit: Chris Phelps/Press)
Didn’t they want you to do some Heartbreakers songs too?
I didn’t want to do any, but Stevie [Nicks] wanted to do Free Fallin’ and do a little tribute to Tom in the concert. Free Fallin’ is not one of my favourite songs, although a lot of people love it. Then in the rehearsal they asked me to do Oh Well, the Peter Green song, which is not much singing, it’s mostly talking. It’s a great guitar workout, and so that was my chance to get my confidence with my voice and being at the mic. That was the beginning of my genesis into the egomaniac I am now.
But it was a turning point for me. Steve Real, Stevie’s vocal coach, would come by the dressing room before the show and teach me some breathing and exercises. I still take the tape he made me and do it before every Knobs show. I got my [Dirty Knobs] record deal out of that. We were in Boston, and someone from the label came to see the show and afterwards they said: “We love the way you sound. Do you want to make a record?” So it came to me again. These blessings.
I’m definitely grateful. That’s part of why I wrote the book. Everybody gets some kind of blessings; you just have to be able to recognise the blessings when they come your way and embrace them.
I think you have actually figured out the key to happiness.
Well I’m trying. I remember once we were in Australia, and Bob Dylan did an interview with some local journalist, and the guy goes: “So listen, Bob, are you happy?” And without missing a beat he goes: “Happy? They have pills for that.” So that’s my answer.
After Tom died, you rejected the idea of the Heartbreakers continuing without him, at least under that name. Do you think over time you might change your mind?
No, we’re not like that. It’s not going to happen. That was Tom’s band, that was our band with Tom. It would feel awkward and it would feel sad. It’s like that ship sailed. And I think it’s okay, just remember it like it was.
I like doing the occasional Heartbreakers song with the Dirty Knobs every now and then, because the people know the songs and I get to sing them my own way, and I wrote it so it’s mine anyway.
There’s so many Heartbreakers tribute bands now. I check them out only out of curiosity and go: “Oooh, no, no, no”. So I don’t want to feel like one of those.
They work all the time. This one band, they have gigs booked all year long, clubs across America doing me and Tom. And the guy they get for me never looks like me. Some of them have guys that look sorta like Tom, but they always get some fat, ugly guy to play my part.
I’m using that, by the way.
That’s okay. Fuck those guys.
Heartbreaker: A Memoir by Mike Campbell is available now in hardback, eBook and Audio via Constable.
One of the first women to work in rock journalism, Jaan Uhelszki got her start alongside Lester Bangs, Ben Edmonds and Dave Marsh — considered the “dream team” of rock writing at Creem Magazine in the mid-1970s. Currently an Editor at Large at Relix, Uhelszki has published articles in NME, Mojo, Rolling Stone, USA Today, Classic Rock, Uncut and the San Francisco Chronicle. Her awards include Online Journalist of the Year and the National Feature Writer Award from the Music Journalist’s Association, and three Deems Taylor Awards. She is listed in Flavorwire’s 33 Women Music Critics You Need to Read and holds the dubious honour of being the only rock journalist who has ever performed in full costume and makeup with Kiss.
Former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett once found a parallel with famous filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock that lined up well with his own work. “I sympathize with Hitchcock’s need to remake a classic film,” he said.
More than a decade later, it’s a philosophy that continues to develop and spread as he revisits moments and at times, full albums from his time with Genesis. In the past year, he’s been presenting a selection of material from the band’s classic 1974 album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway in the concerts that he performs with his solo band. Fans can get a preview of upcoming U.S. dates set for this fall, thanks to a new live album. The humorously titled The Lamb Stands Up Live at the Royal Albert Hall, recorded at the heritage venue in October of 2024, will be released July 11.
The current tour celebrates the 50th anniversary of The Lamb, mixing a selection of Hackett’s favorites from the album with other songs from the band’s catalog and his own solo work. The guitarist was joined for the performance by guests including Marillion’s Steve Rothery and former Genesis vocalist Ray Wilson.
“I think old material sounds sweeter with the passing of time. I think you forgive. its imperfections and try and change those things when you go to it again,” he explains on the UCR Podcast. “So things that might have been recorded in haste with aspects of timing and tuning, there’s no excuse for that these days. If you’re going to do a revisit, you might as well straighten out those things. When we were young players all piling in, there was one set of priorities. Now, of course, it’ll be well to polish these things. [Live], it’s not as if you’re doing a medley, I tend to do the full thing. If I’m going to do something, I’ll usually [play] the full tune and possibly extend with other things. The end of “Supper’s Ready,” I tend to go off on a guitar feature right at the end of it, just because I’m moved to do so. I haven’t got to worry about anyone going, ‘Hey, that’s my moment, you can’t do that. Well, I can, because I sweated blood to put this stuff together back in the early days.”
The Birth of ‘The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway’
It’s now one of their most beloved albums, with a deluxe box set due for release. But as you might imagine, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway had a very complex path to completion. “The Lamb was fraught with complication. By then, many of us were married with families or about to become fathers. We were still trying to employ the philosophy of going away, isolating and coming up with stuff,” he remembers. “It’s a bit like you’re temporarily married to the team. But what was so difficult about The Lamb was the fact that we were recording — or trying to — in a in a former workhouse that was arguably haunted and was frankly dangerous and unsanitary.”
“We moved on once that timed out, because [Led] Zeppelin had recorded their famous drum sound from the stairwell at Headley Grange. [So] we moved on to Glaspant Manor in Wales, which was a house that was being built. We went from a place where the ceilings were giving way to a place where there were no ceilings. It was this idea of, are we growing up or are we just coming out against brick walls with this? It was the most difficult time imaginable.”
Listen to Steve Hackett on the ‘UCR Podcast’
Watch Steve Hackett Perform ‘The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway’
The Best Song From Every Genesis Album
As personnel came and went over the decades, Genesis shape-shifted through prog, folk and (more than once) pop.
When Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers first started making albums in the late ’70s, they were not the well-oiled machine they ultimately became.
“There was a lot of trial and error,” Petty later said of the band’s debut album for the book Conversations With Tom Petty. “I think it’s only 28 minutes long. [Laughs] It was just the first 10 things written. And we did it at lightning speed.”
Regardless of how quickly written an album is, a key factor in its overall appeal lies in its first track. (We are assuming, for the purposes of this article, that readers are listening to an album from start to finish as the artist intended it to be heard.) It is, in essence, the opening statement, the introduction, the prologue to what is to come. Hook a listener with the first song and you will hopefully bring them along for the whole journey.
Over the course of his career, Petty released 13 studio albums with the Heartbreakers and three solo LPs. Below, we’ve ranked all of their opening tracks.
In 2010, Petty finally put out the heavier blues album he’d been meaning to for years. “We couldn’t have made this in the ’70s,” he told Rolling Stone then about Mojo. “We didn’t have those kinds of chops in the ’70s. We grew into this.” The LP begins with “Jefferson Jericho Blues,” a lively opener but not the most-gripping of Petty’s career.
This writer personally prefers “Walls (No. 3)” to “Walls (Circus),” the opening track to 1996’s Songs and Music From “She’s the One.” It’s unique for featuring Lindsey Buckingham on backing vocals, but in reality, Petty didn’t care for the track, to put it mildly. “Never listened to it. I hated that record – the whole idea of it offended me,” he told Men’s Journal in 2015. “I only did it because I didn’t have anything else to do.”
You might think that starting an album with a song you co-wrote with Bob Dylan would be a foolproof idea. Unfortunately in the case of “Jammin’ Me” from 1987’s Let Me Up (I’ve Had Enough), the result is a bit more confusing than impressive. It’s a quirky track, but has that quintessential ’80s sound . If you know you know.
“When the Time Comes” from You’re Gonna Get It! has, like many early Petty songs, a Byrds-like quality to it and sets the tone for the rest of the album nicely. The stronger tracks come later on though…
You can interpret the title of “A One Story Town” a few different ways — “story” as in building height, or perhaps “story” as in the narrative the town runs on. In any case, this is an upbeat opening number, with a great drum fill intro by Stan Lynch that propels the rest of the song.
Opening an album with an inward-looking ballad is not something everyone can pull off, but Petty did with “Room at the Top.” “I still think that’s one of the better moments of the album,” Petty said in Conversations With Tom Petty. “It was a great example of the Heartbreakers at work. On my own I would have never arrived at that arrangement of the song. But they really took it somewhere I would have never got to myself.”
An album’s opening track is like the first shot in a movie. It sets the scene, creates the atmosphere and entices a listener to keep listening. “Rebels” is a good example of that, a song that pulls one into the world of the south Petty not only wrote about but came from himself.
9. “American Dream Plan B” From: Hypnotic Eye (2014)
“American Dream Plan B,” and therefore the entirety of 2014’s Hypnotic Eye, begins with what Mike Campbell once described as a “tough guitar sound.” The Heartbreakers, as Campbell saw it, always aimed to make albums that were meant to be heard in full, starting with the opening track. “The album format is what we grew up on. It’s what we aspired to when we were first discovering music – it’s what’s what we know,” he told MusicRadar in 2014. “We actually talked about this because nowadays, with iTunes and everything, there’s a lot of pressure to get this track and that track, whatever. We really made an effort to fight that as much as possible and present this as an entire piece.”
Something about the introductory descending riff in “The Last DJ” feels a bit like falling down the rabbit hole into the album of the same name. Welcome to the world of corporate greed, the kind that can both shoot a musician to the top and drag them right back down. As Rolling Stone described it: “At once nostalgic and forward-looking, The Last DJ is quintessential Petty, by turns strident and starry-eyed.”
As the opening track to the Heartbreakers’ debut album, “Rockin’ Around (With You)” could be considered the opening track to the band’s entire career. Lynch’s shuffle-y intro gives way to a BeatlesRevolver-esque melody in the first song and the rest of the album falls into place after it.
Not only does “The Waiting” work well as an opening track with its confident intro — can’t go wrong with a couple of Rickenbacker guitars — the first lines invite a listener in: “Oh baby don’t it feel like heaven right now? Don’t it feel like something from a dream?” Clearly, fans agreed since “The Waiting” was a Top 20 hit for the Heartbreakers.
Sometimes the cliche is true: it it isn’t broke, don’t fix it. One could say that about the musical partnership of Petty and Jeff Lynne, who co-produced several of Petty’s albums including 2006’s Highway Companion. Yes, this was a solo Petty album, but that didn’t stop him from having Campbell play on it anyway. “Saving Grace” is a little bit gritty, a little bit sexy and a great start to an album that showcases Petty as a seasoned songwriter.
If there was one thing Petty was exceptionally good at, it was writing theoretically simple songs that packed a whole lot of meaning and emotion into them. “Wildflowers” is a perfect example — the chords are easy, even for a beginner musician, and yet it creates a beautiful, sweet and hopeful opening to an album about vulnerability, solitude and maturity.
It bears repeating: sometimes the straightforward path is the most powerful one. “Learning to Fly” doesn’t have a bridge, just a few verses alternating with an easy-to-sing-to chorus, but one need only hear live versions of this song to know how much Petty’s audience loved it. Somehow, Petty never wore out the themes of open skies, new possibilities and resilience in the face of struggle.
Have you ever blasted “Free Fallin'” with all the windows down in the car rolling down the highway? If so, then you probably understand why this song is at the No. 2 spot on this list. Simple verses give way to an anthemic chorus that sets up the rest of 1989’s Full Moon Fever. A perfect road trip opener.
Not to be dramatic but the snare drum intro in “Refugee” is like a call to arms. It grabs one’s attention immediately and tees up the guitars for that iconic riff — plus Benmont Tench‘s crucial organ part — that builds into the chorus. The rest of Damn the Torpedoes falls in place behind it like rock ‘n’ roll dominos.
The Best Song From Every Tom Petty Album
There’s a common thread running through Tom Petty’s catalog, and it’s the Heartbreakers.
In 2008, Grace Potter was 25 years old and a rising rock ‘n’ roll star.
By then, she and her band the Nocturnals had released two albums, appeared on programs like The Tonight Show With Jay Leno and Good Morning America, plus opened for Gov’t Mule, the Dave Matthews Band and the Black Crowes.
It was then that Potter stepped into the studio to make what was slated to be a solo album with producer T Bone Burnett — who had recently produced Robert Plant and Alison Krauss‘ Grammy-winning Raising Sand – Jim Keltner on drums, Dennis Crouch on bass, Marc Ribot on guitar and Keefus Ciancia on keyboards.
The resulting album, Medicine, spoke to Potter’s talent as a singer, songwriter and studio presence, drawing as much from her rock ‘n’ roll influences as soul, R&B and other genres.
Back then, Potter’s label decided against releasing the album. They felt it strayed too far from the vision that was Grace Potter the rock star. Potter took the news in stride, found new ways to use the songs from Medicine with the Nocturnals so they didn’t fully languish on the shelf and moved forward.
Now, nearly 20 years later, the original Medicine will arrive on May 30 via Hollywood Records. UCR recently caught up with Potter to talk about what it means to finally release the album as it was intended and the confidence her producer T Bone Burnett helped provide.
Congratulations on Medicine finally coming out. It must feel really great after all these years. Oh my God, it’s so weird. Because I’m used to having, like, this emotional turmoil. Every record is, like, this big awakening, and all this inspiration goes into it, and then I care so much about it, and I’m really sort of, like, precious, and I don’t have to do that this time. It’s been really just fun to explore it. I mean, there’s definitely been some introspection, but not this really scary, like, “Oh my God, I wonder what the world’s gonna think.” I already know what they think of the songs, most of the songs are already out there. So it’s been kind of an effortless process, because I’m coming from a place of wisdom and reflection, as opposed to: “I hope the world likes me!”
It’s cool that even though this isn’t a “new” album, you’re not treating it like an archival release or something. No, and I think it’s because, for me, there’s also the narrative that goes along with it. The “Why?” I mean, there’s a wonderful question of “Why now?” And there’s also the question of, “Why didn’t it happen then? What happened here?” So there’s a little like, kind of true crime intrigue thing going on, and it’s good for me to go back to it all. I’ve had so many conversations with people, former bandmates, former team people that were working with me at the time, and then going back to Hollywood Records, where basically the staff is the same as they were when this all went down, and everybody has their memory of it. And it’s incredible how different everybody’s memory is of it. It was interesting for me to be able to look back at it and really hear what they thought happened, knowing how I felt at the time. Because everybody obviously had the best intentions, and just wanted to make sure that my career was blasting off at full force, but you know, the woulda, coulda, shoulda of it all, and just wondering, like, what would have happened if this record had come out then? You know, it’s a curiosity.
You could have felt really discouraged at the time that your plan was being changed by other people, but it sounds like you pretty much took the news in stride. I felt fiercely loyal to my band, honestly. I think there was a lot of, like, trying to figure out what was going wrong with my band, because at the time, I had actually tried to splinter off from the band, and this was going to be a solo record back in 2008. So, it didn’t go well [Laughs], me trying to emancipate myself. And there were tumultuous things going on internally with the band, and this sort of: “Is this a democracy?”
We has just watched that Eagles documentary where I think it’s Don Henley, who just says, like, “Bands can’t be a democracy at all. It just doesn’t work.” And I remember realizing that that wasn’t just true, but that also I was writing all the songs, you know, and that giving away so much of my creative impulse, and – I never got the feeling that anybody was riding on my coattails or anything like that at the time, I was more just like “You guys all get to go do solo records. Why don’t I? I’m not a meal ticket.” And it was the first time I was really feeling that side of it and realizing that I don’t think they thought I was a meal ticket, but they also didn’t like the idea of me going off and doing my own thing, because they knew that inevitably, I would end up going the way of Janis Joplin and Gwen Stefani and so many other artists who peel away from this really galvanized collective.
And I think my image of myself as a 25, 26-year-old person, I think that fierce loyalty was something that felt like it was something to be proud of, but internally, it didn’t feel good. It felt gross. It was genuine. It was definitely real for me. But I think there were pieces of me and parts of like…needing to validate people, sort of co-dependent stuff going on there.
That reminds me of a lot of what Mike Campbell of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers recently wrote in his memoir. He wrote about this dynamic of having a leader versus band loyalty and the gray area in between. Yeah, because it’s a double standard. And when you’re the leader, you want everyone involved, and then suddenly you want to shut away and come up with the next idea. And then you want everyone involved, and they have to be totally game in. It’s difficult for everybody. It’s difficult from every angle, for people to navigate the world of a democracy when really, ultimately — you know, and we know Tom Petty was [a leader] — but also I basically modeled my whole career, including the syllabic pronunciation of “and the Nocturnals,” “and the Heartbreakers,” like it’s vividly illustrated in my career and in my songwriting. But he and I are different in that he knew where that boundary was, and I think that there was a lot more of a clear line there. I’m much more wavy gravy about things, and I was just so into like, the joy of it, of being together.
Listen to ‘Oasis’ From ‘Medicine’
Tell me a little about working with T Bone Burnett in the studio. What was that process like? I think there was this looking for an undeniable collaborator. And T Bone is literally the definition of that. We talked about Daniel Lanois and Rick Rubin. I was really poised for any collaboration I wanted at that time in the industry. They were pouring a huge amount of money into my ascent, and part of that meant meeting with lots of different people, and what I was really looking for was the opportunity to break free of the handlers a little bit and just get into the studio and get really creative and find my voice away from the kid gloves. And when you pair up with a producer like T Bone, you absolutely can’t have a bunch of random A&R people sitting in there making espresso and and throwing in, like, “What about more tambourine?” That doesn’t play, it just doesn’t play. And I was really ready for that. I was ecstatic for the chance to have this undeniable team. Like, here we go. The gusts of wind have turned into a gale storm, and we are going out to sea together, and we don’t need any life boats to come along with us. We’re just going to do this. That’s what I was looking for and that’s certainly what I found in T Bone.
Can we also talk about Jim Keltner? Talk about a legend of a session drummer. Jim is the grout between the tile in like, the most beautifully decorated Moroccan bathroom you’ve ever been in. … He really does take so much care — what I mean by take care is like, TCB, like, it’s done. It’s done. The idea is there. And whether he wanders in with that done in his head, or just sits down and it happens and just comes out of him, I’m not clear, because he doesn’t explain his thinking. He just does. He just exists. …
He’s holding it together like scaffolding and creating this very sacred space so quickly, very little thought going into — I would watch him kind of maybe just practice or figure out whether he was going to use brushes or sticks. He also had this really awesome thing he called the percussion tree next to him, where one of his feet, which would have been used for a kick drum or hi-hat, was also running this tree. … He had this unbelievable, like, cuckoo clock of shit over in the corner, and he could just, like, run his stick up and down it, and suddenly there’s noises coming out of it that you would never expect. I still don’t understand how he was playing fucking castanets, you know, and like, also the kick and snare and toms and symbols.
When you look back at that period of your life and career now, after several more years of success, is there any advice you’d offer 25-year-old Grace? I would have grabbed my 25-year-old self by the shoulders and looked her dead in the eye and said: If you don’t advocate for yourself — you don’t owe anybody anything, but you will owe yourself later if you don’t advocate for yourself, because everybody else here — you aren’t lucky to be in their presence, and they aren’t lucky to be in your presence. This is what is happening, and you should enjoy it. And if you’re not proud of it at the end of the day, don’t put it out. But if you are very clearly and devotedly excited and certain that this is where you as an artist want to go, not what your career arc and what your brand is sort of building to — which is really, I think, what ultimately, logistically was needing to happen based on the investments that people had made in me, time and lots and lots of money from the record company — there was a devotion to others that I had at that point that made it feel impossible. Like I absolutely did not have a choice. And so I think I would grab myself by the shoulders and just say, “You don’t owe anybody here anything.”
Few bands have embodied the raw power and rebellious spirit of rock and roll quite like Joan Jett and The Blackhearts, an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1979 as a conjunction of lead musician, singer and songwriter Joan Jett and the backup band. Founded when Joan Jett sought to continue her musical career after The Runaways disbanded, the band has undergone many lineup changes since its inception, with founders Jett and producer Kenny Laguna being its only consistent members. Three albums by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts have been certified platinum or gold, establishing them as one of the most successful female-fronted rock acts of all time. Their hit singles include “Bad Reputation”, “Fake Friends”, “Good Music”, “Light of Day”, “Little Liar”, “I Hate Myself for Loving You”, and the covers “Crimson and Clover”, “Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah)”, “Dirty Deeds”, “Everyday People”, and “I Love Rock ‘n Roll”.
The band emerged during a pivotal time in rock history when female-fronted hard rock groups were rare, making Joan Jett a trailblazer who opened doors for countless future female musicians. After Joan Jett’s self-titled solo debut was rejected by 23 major labels, she and Laguna formed their independent record label Blackheart Records and pressed copies themselves, sometimes selling albums out of the trunk of Laguna’s Cadillac after concerts. This DIY approach proved prescient as the band went on to achieve massive commercial success throughout the 1980s. In 2015, the lineup consisting of Jett, Laguna, bassist Gary Ryan, drummer Lee Crystal, and guitarist Ricky Byrd were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The band has released twelve albums over their career, with their influence extending far beyond sales figures to inspire generations of rock musicians who saw that authentic, uncompromising music could still achieve mainstream success.
Throughout their history, The Blackhearts have featured numerous talented musicians who contributed to their distinctive sound that blended punk attitude with classic rock structures. Joan Jett and the Blackhearts became the first rock band to perform a series of shows at the Lunt–Fontanne Theatre on Broadway, breaking the record at the time for the fastest ticket sell-out. The band’s longevity and continued relevance speak to both the timeless appeal of their music and the strength of the musical partnerships that have defined their sound across different eras. With Joan Jett continuing to tour and record under The Blackhearts name, the band remains an active force in rock music, introducing their rebellious anthems to new generations while maintaining the authentic spirit that first made them rock icons.
Joan Jett
Joan Marie Larkin was born on September 22, 1958, at Lankenau Hospital in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia, to James and Dorothy, and would grow to become one of rock music’s most influential figures. Often referred to as the “Godmother of Punk”, she is regarded as a rock icon and an influential figure in popular rock music. Joan founded Joan Jett and the Blackhearts as her backup band in 1979 following the dissolution of her pioneering all-female band The Runaways, which she co-founded and performed with from 1975 to 1979. Her determination to continue making music on her own terms led to the creation of what would become one of the most enduring partnerships in rock history.
As the leader and primary songwriter of The Blackhearts, Joan has served as rhythm guitarist and lead vocalist on all twelve of the band’s albums, three of which have been certified platinum or gold. Her songwriting and performance style drew from classic rock, punk, and glam influences, creating a sound that was both rebellious and accessible. With the Blackhearts, Jett has released twelve albums, three of which have been certified platinum or gold. Additionally, eleven of their singles have appeared on the Billboard Hot 100. Her most famous composition remains “I Love Rock ‘n Roll,” originally written by The Arrows, which Jett transformed into a defining anthem that spent seven weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1982.
Beyond her work with The Blackhearts, Joan has maintained an extensive career as a producer, songwriter, and activist. Before forming Redbone, Pat and Lolly released an album in October 1965 entitled Pat & Lolly Vegas at the Haunted House. She produced the Germs’ only album and her label Blackheart Records has released recordings from varied artists such as thrash metal band Metal Church and rapper Big Daddy Kane. Outside of music, she headlined the film Light of Day in 1987 and has appeared in several television series, including providing voice work for Steven Universe. Joan was included on Rolling Stone’s 2003 and 2023 lists of the greatest guitarists of all time, and in 2015, she and the Blackhearts were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. She continues to tour and record today, maintaining her status as a pioneering figure who proved that women could succeed in rock music while staying true to their artistic vision.
Kenny Laguna
Kenny Laguna stands as the most consistent member of The Blackhearts alongside Joan Jett, serving as producer, songwriter, and business partner since the band’s formation in 1979. In 1979, while fulfilling an obligation of the Runaways to complete a film based on the band’s career, guitarist and singer-songwriter Joan Jett met songwriter and producer Kenny Laguna, who was hired by her manager Toby Mamis to help Jett with writing some tracks for that film. Their collaboration began when Laguna was brought in to help with songwriting for a Runaways film project, but their creative partnership quickly evolved into something much more significant. Together, they formed the independent record label Blackheart Records after Joan’s solo debut was rejected by 23 major labels.
Laguna’s role in The Blackhearts extends far beyond traditional producing duties. With Laguna’s assistance, Jett formed the Blackhearts, and he has remained the band’s primary producer throughout their entire career. He co-wrote many of the band’s biggest hits and helped develop their signature sound that balanced Joan’s punk sensibilities with more radio-friendly arrangements. Throughout 1980, the band was able to keep touring solely due to Laguna drawing on advances from outside projects. Jett and Laguna used their personal savings to press copies of the Joan Jett album and set up their own system of distribution, sometimes selling the albums out of the trunk of Laguna’s Cadillac at the end of each concert. This grassroots approach to distribution and promotion became a template for independent artists long before such methods were commonplace in the music industry.
As a business partner, Laguna co-founded Blackheart Records with Joan, which they started with Laguna’s daughter’s college savings when no major label would sign them. The label became one of the early examples of successful artist-owned independent labels, influencing countless musicians to take control of their own careers. Laguna’s production work has been crucial to The Blackhearts’ sound across all twelve of their studio albums, helping them achieve both critical acclaim and commercial success. In 2015, Laguna was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame alongside Joan and the classic Blackhearts lineup, recognizing his essential contributions to the band’s legacy. His partnership with Joan Jett represents one of the most successful producer-artist collaborations in rock history, spanning over four decades and continuing to the present day.
Gary Ryan
Gary Ryan was born Gary Moss and adopted his stage name upon joining the Blackhearts in 1979, in part to cover up the fact that he was only 15 at the time. He mentioned a local bass player, Gary Ryan, who had recently been crashing on his couch. Ryan was part of the Los Angeles punk scene and had played bass with local artists Top Jimmy and Rik L. Rik before joining The Blackhearts. John Doe of X sat in on bass for the auditions held at S.I.R. studios in Los Angeles when Joan was forming her backup band. Despite his young age, Ryan’s talent and familiarity with Joan’s work from his time as a Runaways fan made him an ideal fit for the band’s rhythm section.
Ryan served as The Blackhearts’ bassist from 1979 to 1987, playing on their most commercially successful albums and contributing to their biggest hits. He had been a fan of the Runaways and Jett for years. Jett recognized him at the audition and he was in. His bass work can be heard on crucial albums including “Bad Reputation” (1981), “I Love Rock ‘n Roll” (1981), “Album” (1983), “Glorious Results of a Misspent Youth” (1984), and “Good Music” (1986). Ryan’s playing style provided the solid foundation that allowed Joan’s guitar and vocals to shine while maintaining the punk edge that defined the band’s sound. His contributions were particularly notable on “I Love Rock ‘n Roll,” where his bass lines helped drive one of the most recognizable songs in rock history.
Before joining The Blackhearts, Ryan had run away to Hollywood at age fourteen driven by his love for rock and roll. For six months Gary lived in a shuttered Hollywood basement rock club that is now a rehearsal space for bands, and for another seven months he lived in a Santa Monica Boulevard apartment with the band X. After leaving The Blackhearts in 1987, Ryan stepped away from the music industry and became a school teacher, though he remained connected to his former bandmates. In 2015, Ryan was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of the classic Blackhearts lineup, and he briefly reunited with the band for some performances leading up to the induction ceremony. Gary moved out of the city and became a school teacher. His contribution to The Blackhearts’ legacy during their most successful period cemented his place as an essential part of their story, even though his post-music career took a very different direction from his rock and roll origins.
Lee Crystal
Lee Jamie Sackett, better known as Lee Crystal, was born on February 3, 1956, in Brooklyn, New York, and became one of the most important drummers in The Blackhearts’ history. Sackett grew up in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York, as he would say, “across the street from the Cyclone.” When he was 17, a car hit him while he was riding a bicycle, and after receiving a settlement from the accident, Crystal was able to purchase his first drum kit, which had been left over from a drum clinic run by Brooklyn drummer Carmine Appice. This fortunate accident led to his entry into music, and he studied under drummer Bernard Purdie, whom Crystal said, “influenced me a great deal in really keeping a backbeat.”
Crystal served as The Blackhearts’ drummer from 1981 to 1986, during their most prolific and popular period. Crystal was the drummer during the band’s most prolific and popular period from 1981–86, including the album I Love Rock ‘n Roll and that album’s title track, which stayed atop the Billboard charts for seven weeks in 1982. He first gained attention in the New York City rock club scene as a member of The Boyfriends, which recorded one single for Bomp Records and earned a strong cult following, opening for the Ramones and the Dead Boys at clubs like CBGB and Max’s Kansas City. After leaving The Boyfriends, Crystal worked with three former members of the New York Dolls, touring with Sylvain Sylvain and playing club dates with Johnny Thunders and David Johansen before auditioning for The Blackhearts in 1981.
Crystal’s drumming style was essential to The Blackhearts’ sound during their peak commercial period. Lee Crystal, formerly of the Boyfriends and Sylvain Sylvain, became the new drummer. He stated, “Joan Jett was what I needed. I wanted to play real rock ‘n’ roll.” His powerful, straightforward drumming approach provided the backbone for hits like “I Love Rock ‘n Roll,” “Crimson and Clover,” and “Everyday People.” His unrelenting beat on “I Love Rock ‘n Roll” is legendary and helped establish the song as one of rock’s most enduring anthems. In 1993, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, which eventually ended his performing career. Upon retiring from the music industry, Crystal sold furniture in Manhattan and gave music lessons from his home, where he would tell his students to “get real familiar with your drums, because you’ll be hitting them.” Former Blackhearts drummer Lee Crystal died from complications of multiple sclerosis on November 5, 2013, at the age of 57. As a member of Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Crystal was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015 by his wife, the former Maura Shea.
Ricky Byrd
Ricky Byrd was born Richard Scott Bird on October 20, 1956, and became one of the most important guitarists in The Blackhearts’ history, contributing to some of their biggest commercial successes. At 21 in 1977, Byrd joined the Power pop band called Susan, which released one album, “Falling in Love Again!” in 1979 on RCA Records, and toured opening for Graham Parker and others. In 1981, when Joan Jett was looking for a guitarist to replace Eric Ambel in her band, Byrd auditioned and immediately clicked with the group. After jamming with her band, Byrd joined the Blackhearts and played guitar and sang background vocals on the album in progress, I Love Rock n’ Roll.
Byrd served as lead guitarist for The Blackhearts from 1981 to 1991, one of the longest tenures of any member besides Joan and Kenny Laguna. Byrd was a Blackheart with Joan Jett from 1981 to 1991, recording guitar, vocals and co-writing various songs for the followup platinum-selling Album in 1983, Glorious Results of a Misspent Youth in 1984, Good Music in 1987, Up Your Alley in 1988, and The Hit List in 1990. His guitar work was featured on some of The Blackhearts’ biggest hits, including “I Love Rock ‘n Roll,” which sold one million copies in the U.S., went to number 2 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart, and sold over ten million copies worldwide. The single remained at Billboard Hot 100 number one for seven weeks, establishing The Blackhearts as major stars.
During his time with The Blackhearts, Byrd struggled with drug and alcohol addiction but got clean and sober in 1987, remaining with the band for another four years. His guitar style combined classic rock influences with punk energy, contributing to the band’s crossover appeal. Byrd recalled in an interview with Guitarhoo!, “One day I went to a studio to jam around a bit with Jett and everything clicked”. After leaving The Blackhearts in 1991, Byrd signed with Sony Music Publishing and went on to work with numerous legendary artists including Roger Daltrey, Ian Hunter, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and many others. He has released five solo albums, with his recent work focusing on recovery themes drawn from his own experience overcoming addiction. In April 2015, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts were inducted into the 30th Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at a ceremony in Cleveland, Ohio, with Byrd being recognized as an essential part of their classic lineup. His decade with The Blackhearts represented both his greatest commercial success and the foundation for a continuing career as a respected guitarist and songwriter.
Eric Ambel
Eric Ambel served as The Blackhearts’ original guitarist before being replaced by Ricky Byrd during the recording of “I Love Rock ‘n Roll.” Ryan in turn recommended guitarist Eric Ambel, who was also at the time part of Rik L. Rik. Ambel was recruited to the band on the recommendation of Gary Ryan, as both musicians were part of the Los Angeles punk scene and had played with local artist Rik L. Rik. This early connection through the LA punk community helped establish The Blackhearts’ initial lineup and sound, which drew heavily from the raw energy and DIY ethos of that scene.
Ambel’s tenure with The Blackhearts was relatively brief but important for establishing the band’s early identity. After a year of touring and recording, the Blackhearts recorded a new album entitled I Love Rock ‘n Roll for the label. Ambel was replaced by local guitarist Ricky Byrd during the recording. He played on their early live performances and contributed to the development of their sound during the crucial period when they were building their following through constant touring. His guitar work helped establish the fundamental approach that would later be refined by his successor, providing a bridge between Joan’s Runaways background and The Blackhearts’ emerging style.
The transition from Ambel to Byrd occurred during a pivotal moment in The Blackhearts’ career, as they were preparing to record what would become their breakthrough album. While Ambel’s recorded contributions with The Blackhearts were limited, his role in the band’s formation period was significant in helping Joan establish her new musical identity after The Runaways. The fact that he was recruited through the punk community connections that also brought Gary Ryan to the band demonstrates the organic way The Blackhearts came together through the Los Angeles music scene. After leaving The Blackhearts, Ambel continued his music career, though he never achieved the same level of commercial success that his former bandmates would enjoy with their subsequent recordings.
Danny “Furious” O’Brien
Danny “Furious” O’Brien served as The Blackhearts’ original drummer before being replaced by Lee Crystal. The final addition to the original Blackhearts was drummer Danny “Furious” O’Brien, formerly of the San Francisco band the Avengers. O’Brien brought experience from the San Francisco punk scene, having played with The Avengers, one of the notable bands from that city’s vibrant punk community. His background provided The Blackhearts with the aggressive, driving rhythm section approach that would become central to their sound, even though his time with the band was relatively short.
O’Brien’s drumming style reflected the raw energy of late 1970s punk rock, which aligned well with Joan’s vision for The Blackhearts’ sound. This lineup played several gigs at the Golden Bear, in Huntington Beach, California, helping to establish The Blackhearts’ live reputation during their formative period. These early performances were crucial for developing the band’s stage presence and refining their musical approach as they transitioned from Joan’s Runaways background to their new direction. The experience gained during these early shows helped inform the band’s development even after O’Brien’s departure.
The change from O’Brien to Lee Crystal marked an important evolution in The Blackhearts’ rhythm section. Laguna fired O’Brien at the end of the tour, and upon returning to the States, Jett, Ryan, and Ambel moved to Long Beach, New York. While O’Brien’s contributions were limited to the very early period of the band’s development, his role in establishing their initial live performance approach was significant. His departure coincided with other lineup changes that would ultimately lead to the classic Blackhearts formation that achieved their greatest commercial success. The experience of working with O’Brien provided valuable lessons about the type of drummer The Blackhearts needed to achieve their artistic goals, ultimately leading to the successful audition and hiring of Lee Crystal.
Later Members and Current Lineup
Following the departure of the classic lineup members in 1987, The Blackhearts underwent significant changes as Joan Jett continued the band with new musicians. In 1987, Ryan and Crystal left the Blackhearts. They were soon replaced by Thommy Price and Kasim Sulton. Thommy Price, who had previously worked with various notable artists, became the new drummer and brought a more polished, stadium-ready approach to the band’s rhythm section. Kasim Sulton, formerly of Utopia and a respected session bassist, replaced Gary Ryan and contributed his extensive experience to help The Blackhearts maintain their commercial momentum during the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The late 1980s lineup with Price and Sulton coincided with one of The Blackhearts’ most successful periods commercially. Later that year, Jett released Good Music, which featured appearances by the Beach Boys, the Sugarhill Gang, and singer Darlene Love. This period saw the release of “Up Your Alley” (1988), which went multi-platinum and included the hit single “I Hate Myself for Loving You,” which peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The album’s success demonstrated that The Blackhearts could continue to achieve mainstream success even with significant lineup changes, though many fans and critics continued to associate the band’s peak with the earlier Crystal-Ryan-Byrd formation.
Throughout the 1990s and beyond, The Blackhearts continued to evolve with various musicians joining and leaving the band. Her 1991 release, Notorious, which featured the Replacements’ Paul Westerberg and former Billy Idol bass player Phil Feit, was the last with Sony/CBS, as Jett switched to Warner Bros. More recent lineups have included various talented musicians who have helped Joan maintain an active touring and recording schedule. The band continues to perform regularly, introducing their classic songs to new generations while occasionally releasing new material. Joan Jett and the Blackhearts released Changeup on March 25, 2022, the first acoustic album ever recorded by the band, featuring “Bad Reputation” and “Crimson and Clover”. On June 2, 2023, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts released the 6 song EP, Mindsets, the band’s first release of new material in ten years. While the current lineup may not have the same historical significance as the classic 1980s formation, it allows Joan to continue sharing her music and message with audiences worldwide, ensuring that The Blackhearts’ legacy remains vibrant and relevant for contemporary rock fans.
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