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Tom Petty podcasts
Where to hear the story told out loud: the podcasts made entirely about Tom and the band, plus the best single episodes from other shows, from Tom talking to Terry Gross to Mike, Benmont and Stan telling their side.
All-Petty podcasts
Official · 2026–
One On One: The Official Tom Petty Podcast
Each week a well-known fan picks the one Petty song that means most to them and talks it through with the host. Episode 1 is Brandon Flowers on "Here Comes My Girl"; announced guests include Brandi Carlile, Tony Hawk, Adam Granduciel, Dhani Harrison, Lucinda Williams, Kevin Morby and Margo Price, with Benmont Tench also contributing.
Fan-made · 2021–
The Tom Petty Project
A fan show that works through the whole Petty catalog one song and one album at a time, from the first Heartbreakers album on. Between the song episodes there are interviews with musicians, writers and fans. The show says plainly that it is not connected to the estate.
Fan-made · 2026–
Southern Accents
A new fan podcast "about Tom Petty — mostly" that goes album by album, often with a guest. So far it has reached Into the Great Wide Open, with side trips into both Traveling Wilburys albums, live tapes, the 1986 tour with Dylan and other bonus topics.
Fan-made · 2018–2019
Tom Petty And Me
A short-lived show from Jon Scott, who knew Petty for about 40 years through the music business and wrote a book with the same title. Episodes are short stories and interviews, including an archive call-in Petty did on the radio show Rockline in 1989.
Tom in his own words
Fresh Air (NPR) · 2006 interview (rebroadcast 2017-10-03 and 2024-10-18)
Tom Petty To 'Fresh Air': 'The Songs Mean A Lot To People, And It Means A Lot To Me'
Terry Gross's 2006 interview from the Highway Companion era. Petty covers learning music from the radio, meeting Elvis as a boy, the Byrds' pull on the Heartbreakers' guitar sound, the 1987 fire at his house, and working with Johnny Cash.
Why listen: Tom tells his own origin story in his own voice to one of radio's best interviewers.
Rolling Stone All Access · Jan 2, 2017
Tom Petty on his 2017 tour and his future
A 48-minute talk with Petty as the Heartbreakers got ready for their 40th-anniversary tour. He talks about what still drove him and his plans for an expanded Wildflowers.
Why listen: One of the last long interviews with Tom himself in a podcast feed, and he talks about the Wildflowers project that came out after he died.
The band talks
Sound Opinions · Jun 9, 2017
#602 Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' Benmont Tench, Sgt. Pepper's 50th Anniversary & Opinions on Benjamin Booker
Tench talks about his parallel career as a session player and sideman for Bob Dylan, Stevie Nicks, U2, Johnny Cash and others, recorded while the Heartbreakers were still touring.
Why listen: A Tench interview from Petty's lifetime, recorded during the 40th-anniversary tour year.
Broken Record · Oct 16, 2020
Benmont Tench on life with Tom Petty
Released alongside the Wildflowers & All the Rest box. Rubin and Tench go from Mudcrutch in Gainesville, through the move to Los Angeles, to the last Hollywood Bowl show in 2017, plus Tench's session work for Dylan, Stevie Nicks, U2 and Johnny Cash.
Why listen: A Mudcrutch founder and the Wildflowers producer comparing notes, so it covers both ends of the story.
Broken Record · Nov 19, 2020
Mike Campbell On First Album Post Heartbreakers
Campbell and Rubin catch up for the first time since Petty died. They cover growing up with Tom, Mudcrutch, Wildflowers and the first Dirty Knobs album, and Campbell explains how he came up with the "Runnin' Down a Dream" riff.
Why listen: Campbell explains the "Runnin' Down a Dream" riff for the first time, plus Mudcrutch-era memories.
WTF with Marc Maron · Nov 26, 2020
Episode 1178 - Mike Campbell
An hour-plus talk on Campbell's songwriting partnership with Petty, how the Heartbreakers found their sound, and the song he played that got him into Tom's band.
Why listen: One of the best-known long-form podcasts, and Campbell goes deep on how he and Tom wrote together.
The Bob Lefsetz Podcast · Jul 28, 2022
Mike Campbell
A nearly two-hour conversation about Campbell's life from Florida to Los Angeles and the producers and figures he worked with: Denny Cordell, Jimmy Iovine, Jeff Lynne and George Drakoulias.
Why listen: Covers the people behind each era of the records, from the Shelter days through Full Moon Fever and Wildflowers.
Songcraft: Spotlight on Songwriters · Aug 30, 2022
Ep. 200 - Mike Campbell of The Heartbreakers ("Runnin' Down a Dream")
A songwriting podcast's 200th episode: a long interview with Campbell about the songs he co-wrote with Petty, his work with Chris Stapleton, and the Dirty Knobs.
Why listen: Sticks to the craft of writing the songs rather than the band's history.
Kyle Meredith With... · Dec 5, 2022
Benmont Tench on the New Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Live Set and Unreleased Vault Songs
Tench talks about the Live at the Fillmore 1997 box, why those 20 nights leaned so heavily on covers, and deep cuts. He argues Wildflowers wasn't really a solo album and hints at unreleased songs still in the vault.
Why listen: Gets into archive material that collectors care about, and explains why he's wary of playing as the Heartbreakers again.
Rolling Stone All Access · Mar 2, 2025
My Life with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Mike Campbell Looks Back
Recorded around the release of Campbell's memoir Heartbreaker (March 18, 2025). He shares stories from five decades of working with Petty that he hadn't told before.
Why listen: The best-known podcast interview from the Heartbreaker memoir press run.
Talkhouse Podcast · Apr 3, 2025
Taylor Goldsmith (Dawes) with Benmont Tench (Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers)
Musician-to-musician talk between Tench and Dawes singer Taylor Goldsmith, who appears on Tench's second solo album The Melancholy Season. They cover the craft of music and Petty's legacy.
Why listen: Tench is relaxed in this one, talking to a younger musician he works with rather than answering press questions.
Sound Opinions · Apr 4, 2025
Mike Campbell of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers (Episode 1010)
Two veteran Chicago rock critics talk with Campbell about his memoir, playing with Bob Dylan, and why he still loves making music.
Why listen: A memoir interview led by critics rather than fans, with a longer look at Campbell's work outside the band.
The Story Behind the Song · Apr 14, 2025
Mike Campbell of Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, "Refugee"
A single-song episode on how "Refugee" from Damn the Torpedoes was written and recorded, told by its co-writer.
Why listen: A whole episode on one of the band's signature songs, from the man who wrote the music.
The Trap Set with Joe Wong · Jun 11, 2025
311: Stan Lynch (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, The Speaker Wars, Don Henley, etc.)
A drummer-to-drummer interview: Lynch's childhood in Ohio and Florida, early gigs, life in the Heartbreakers, and how Don Henley helped him move into producing. Recorded the week his band The Speaker Wars put out its debut.
Why listen: Lynch rarely gave long interviews for years. This is one of the fullest from his 2025 return.
Behind the records
The Record Store Day Podcast with Paul Myers · Nov 16, 2020
Tom Petty Wildflowers Special with Heartbreakers' Benmont Tench plus Margo Price, Patterson Hood, and Mik Davis
A special marking the Wildflowers & All the Rest box, with Tench on the sessions and other musicians on what the album means to them.
Why listen: Mixes an insider's view with artists who grew up on the record, Margo Price among them (she is also a One On One guest).
Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums · Nov 3, 2021
Tom Petty's "Wildflowers"
Brittany Spanos and Rolling Stone writers trace how Wildflowers came together over two hard years, using new interviews with the band and executive producer George Drakoulias plus archive tape of Petty talking about the record.
Why listen: A well-produced album history with three Heartbreakers and Petty's own archive comments.
Life of the Record · Oct 30, 2024
The Making of LONG AFTER DARK by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
A nearly two-hour making-of for the 1982 album, released with its deluxe edition. It traces the road from Mudcrutch to the Heartbreakers, Campbell's demos, Lynch on life after the first success, the end of the Jimmy Iovine years, and outtakes that point toward the band's later sound.
Why listen: The most detailed audio history of an often-overlooked album, with two band members and the band's archivist.
Vinyl Emergency · Nov 4, 2025
Episode 226: Tom Petty Producer/Engineer Ryan Ulyate
Petty's longtime engineer, co-producer and archivist talks about the Wildflowers 30th-anniversary vinyl and the late-career records he worked on.
Why listen: Ulyate is the person behind the archive releases, so this is the closest look at how the vault reissues get made.
The bigger picture
Freakonomics Radio · Nov 12, 2015
227. Should Everyone Be in a Rock Band?
Recorded as Petty: The Biography came out. Zanes, the Del Fuegos member turned Petty biographer, talks with Dubner about what Petty's rise teaches, set against another rocker's fall.
Why listen: An unlikely place to find the Petty biographer. It frames Tom's story as a lesson in persistence.
My Favorite Album with Jeremy Dylan · Jun 20, 2016
143. Dr Warren Zanes on Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers 'Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers'
Zanes picks the 1976 debut and talks about how the band found its sound, early doubts about Tom's voice, Benmont Tench's playing, and Mudcrutch, including why Petty may have brought it back.
Why listen: The biographer talks about the first record and Mudcrutch specifically.
Hit Parade (Slate) · Oct 30, 2017
Hit Parade: Le Petty Prince Edition
Chart historian Chris Molanphy puts Petty next to Prince: two first-ballot Hall of Famers who fought their labels, had hits across genres, and both wrote songs for Stevie Nicks. It builds to their 2004 Hall of Fame performance together.
Why listen: A chart-history look at Petty's career, including the Stevie Nicks connection and the label fights.
Something About the Beatles · Nov 2, 2017
125: Roy Orbison, Tom Petty and the Traveling Wilburys
Writer Jeff Slate on how the Traveling Wilburys came together, Roy Orbison's part in it, and how Orbison was tied to the Beatles.
Why listen: A good Wilburys episode from a long-running Beatles show, for fans of the Harrison and Lynne side of Tom's career.
Broken Record · Dec 25, 2018
Tom Petty and the Creation of "Wildflowers"
Rubin, who produced Wildflowers, tells Gladwell about the two years he spent making it with Petty, how Petty wrote, and how about half the songs they recorded were left off the album.
Why listen: The producer's own account of the album, recorded two years before the Wildflowers & All the Rest box brought those left-off songs out.
60 Songs That Explain the '90s (The Ringer) · Feb 2, 2022
"It's Good to Be King"—Tom Petty
Harvilla uses Petty's 1990s run, from the MTV videos to the Wildflowers track "It's Good to Be King", for a personal essay about getting ready to be a dad.
Why listen: A widely heard critic's take on Petty's '90s peak. It has a different tone from the band interviews.
You Probably Know The Hits · Jan 12, 2026
Tom Petty (Part 1 of 4)
The first of a four-part career overview, running from Petty's Florida childhood through the rise of the Heartbreakers. Each part is about 100 minutes.
Why listen: A long, recent, beginner-friendly walk through the whole career, good for newer fans.
Episodes made in the days after Tom died, and shows built around tabloid stories, aren't listed. Know a great episode we've missed, or run a Petty podcast? Tell us.