“I still really love playing with this band,” Tom Petty told Billboard in 2005, one year shy of the Heartbreakers‘ 30-year anniversary. “I think we all treasure the Heartbreakers. When we actually get together and it’s the Heartbreakers, there’s a sense of pride in it. And we know we’re good, so that’s something to live up to, isn’t it?”
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The Heartbreakers lived up to their promise for 41 years. Throughout those four decades, the band’s music wasn’t the only thing that remained consistent—the lineup largely stayed intact, too. With lead guitarist Mike Campbell serving as the group’s second-in-command, the Heartbreakers became SoCal’s own version of the E Street Band: a backing ensemble with an identity of its very own, contributing grooves and riffs that were every bit as crucial to the band’s sound as the songwriting itself.
Stan Lynch (1976 through 1994)
When Stan Lynch departed the Heartbreakers in 1994, though, it marked a significant change. Lynch had been the band’s drummer since 1976, and his vocal harmonies were a crucial part of their heartland rock and roll anthems. Petty was an avid fan of The Byrds, whose chiming guitars helped set the tone for early hits like “Listen to Her Heart” and “American Girl.” Lynch’s backing vocals sealed the deal, completing the Heartbreakers’ tribute to the jangling rockers who came before them. His biggest contribution, though, was his drumming.
Lynch wasn’t a flashy drummer. He favored simple, straightforward equipment—including vintage Tama kits, Zildjian cymbals, Remo heads, and Ludwig Supraphonics snares—and kept his fills to a minimum on the band’s first two albums. Listen to some of the Heartbreakers’ classic hits, though, and you’ll hear Lynch steal the spotlight during certain moments. On the bridge of “American Girl,” he plays a 16th note pattern on the hi-hat, locking into glorious syncopation with Benmont Tench’s keys. On “Breakdown,” he sets the tone for the song by establishing a slinky groove that’s every bit as important as Campbell’s signature guitar riff.
Ron Blair and Howie Epstein both played bass for the Heartbreakers during Lynch’s time in the band, but Lynch always saw himself as the rhythm section’s leader. “I sort of feel that the bass player’s responsibility is to kind of play along with me,” he told Modern Drummer in February 1984. “That’s not cocky. It’s just how I would view it if I were thinking of my position on the stage. If I’m center stage and physically behind Tommy, I’m very close in proximity to the cat, and if I’m not on his wavelength, I’ve made life hard on him. It’s a real drag for him on stage to sing over my part if it’s not complementary. If the drums and the vocals are working, the song is really going to happen. The bass has got to follow that.”
[RELATED: 5 Impactful Moments in Tom Petty’s Career That Solidified His Legacy]
Steve Ferrone (1994 through 2017)
Personal and creative conflicts got Lynch kicked out of the band in October 1994, with “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” marking his final studio performance with the band. His replacement was Steve Ferrone, a British drummer who’d previously played drums on Duran Duran’s “Ordinary World,” most of Chaka Khan’s 1980s albums, and every Eric Clapton tour between 1986 and 1992. Ferrone joined Petty in the studio for Wildflowers, where his contributions included the iconic boom-boom-crack pattern of “You Don’t Know How It Feels,” and hit the road with the Heartbreakers for the first time in 1995.
Ferrone had also spent years with the Average White Band, so he had some serious R&B chops. He initially downplayed those skills with the Heartbreakers, focusing instead on sturdy, well-timed drum parts that highlighted Petty’s writing. His first three albums with Petty—Wildflowers, She’s the One, and Echo—were largely tracked live in the recording studio, with very few overdubs. With an unflagging sense of rhythm that bordered on the metronomic, Ferrone was an appropriate timekeeper for a band that simply wanted to plug in, press record, and capture the magic that unfolded.
As Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers entered their final stretch, though, Ferrone’s drumming became one of the band’s calling cards. This was a new era for the band—an era filled not with radio hits, but with expert playing, deeper grooves, and a willingness to serve as torchbearers for old-school rock and roll. On Mojo, the group’s bluesy outing from 2010, Ferrone’s percussion was the cornerstone for an album that referenced everything from J.J. Cale’s swamp-rock grooves to Chess Records’ iconic R&B. He reprised that role on Hypnotic Eye, the band’s final studio release. Like Mojo, Hypnotic Eye found the Heartbreakers focusing on the old-school roots of rock, with Ferrone serving as the band’s rhythmic engine. He played “Full Grown Boy” with a laidback, jazz-adjacent swing, then attacked “Fault Lines” like a garage band drummer playing a spy movie score. In concert, he was driven and dependable, always anchoring the Heartbreakers to the beat without sacrificing the band’s natural, well-worn swagger.
Timekeeper Toss-Up
Which drummer is better? That’s a question we prefer not to answer. Stan Lynch and Steve Ferrone were the ideal drummers for their respective periods in the band. Lynch gave the group a sense of push-and-pull, not only rhythmically, but also socially. He infamously clashed with producer Jimmy Iovine and even Petty himself, challenging the status quo and pushing the band toward its most successful era. Ferrone, meanwhile, wasn’t just an expert timekeeper—he was a peacekeeper, too, stabilizing the band during a time of upheaval and helping transform the Heartbreakers into a legacy act whose new albums still packed a punch.
Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images
