8 Hit Songs You Might Not Know Tom Petty Wrote

Tom Petty was the architect behind classic hits like “Don’t Do Me Like That” and “American Girl,” which he performed alongside his band The Heartbreakers, as well as solo classics like “Free Fallin’.” A consummate classic rock songsmith, Petty—who died in 2017—seemingly found writing hits as effortless as the ocean-infused melodies he crafted.

Petty also shared close relationships with many other musicians during his life, and often wrote songs for them as well. Those musicians just so happened to include Bob Dylan, Stevie Nicks, and a former Beatle. Read on to discover some of the songs you might not know Petty was behind.

“Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” // Stevie Nicks
“Cheer Down” // George Harrison
“You Got It” // Roy Orbison
“Got My Mind Made Up” // Bob Dylan
“Blown Away” // Jeff Lynne
“Leave Virginia Alone” // Rod Stewart
“King of the Hill” // Roger McGuinn
“Never Be You” // Maria McKee

“Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around” // Stevie Nicks

Stevie Nicks had only been in Fleetwood Mac for a year when she first heard Tom Petty’s debut album, and she became an instant fan. “I loved the way Tom’s Florida swamp-dog voice sounded in cahoots with Mike Campbell's guitar and Benmont Tench's keyboards,” Nicks wrote in a Rolling Stone tribute to Petty. “Tom had the same influences we had—the Byrds, Neil Young, Crosby, Stills & Nash—but he dropped in lots of serious old blues. I became such a fan that if I hadn’t been in a band myself, I would have joined that one.”

Upon meeting Petty, Nicks didn’t hide her affection for his music. “She was this absolutely stoned-gone huge fan,” Petty told American Songwriter of their first meeting. “And it was her mission in life that I should write her a song.”

The opportunity for that came when Nicks was recording her debut solo album, Bella Donna, with the help of Jimmy Iovine, who was also producing Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ album Hard Promises when he took on the gig with Nicks. The crossover led to Petty hearing an early version of the album—and to Petty sharing some blunt feedback.

“Both Tom and Jimmy said to me, in a brutally honest way, ‘You don’t have a single on this record,” Nicks recalled. “Tom is a great and loyal friend, but he’s also honest like that.” To remedy that, Petty wrote the song “Insider.”

“When I wrote that song, I wrote it very quickly—I mean maybe in 10, 15 minutes,” he told Melody Maker. “I just wrote it all down on paper and then I just picked up the guitar and tried to sing each line out. It took me maybe an hour to do that.”

After seeing Iovine’s positive reaction to the song, Petty began to feel like maybe he didn’t actually want to give it away after all. Nicks began working on the track, but soon noticed Petty’s true feelings. “She said, ‘I can tell by the look on your face, you don’t wanna give me this song,” Petty continued. “I’m giving it back to you right now.’ I really thought a lot of her for that.”

To make up for the loss of “Insider,” Petty offered Nicks the song “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around,” which he'd written with Mike Campbell. Iovine thought the song would soar as a duet, and so Petty joined Nicks on the track, which became the debut single from Bella Donna. The song was a hit and laid the foundation for a lifetime of friendship between Nicks and Petty.

In the early ‘90s, after getting out of rehab, Nicks felt insecure about her songwriting and tried to enlist Petty’s help, but was surprised when he refused. “I didn't really expect the reaction I got, which was, ‘No, I won't,’” Nicks continued in her Rolling Stone tribute.

“He said, ‘You are one of the premier songwriters in this business. Just write some great songs—that's what you do.’” She also recalled that when they went on tour together in 2006, Petty gave her a diamond and gold bracelet inlaid with the phrase, “To Our Honorary Heartbreaker,” which she called “probably the most beautiful piece of jewelry a man has given me, ever.”

“Cheer Down” // George Harrison

The former Beatle wrote the music for this track, which was recorded during the sessions for Harrison's album Cloud Nine, and enlisted Petty to finish up the lyrics. The two were both part of the supergroup Traveling Wilburys at the time.

Harrison and Petty penned it especially for Eric Clapton, who turned it down. Harrison's version of the song was then co-produced by Jeff Lynne, and was featured on the soundtrack for the film Lethal Weapon 2.

The track itself contains some clever lyrics that feature a man reassuring his love that he’ll be there, even if she’s down—a refreshing contrast to pop music’s love of “cheer up!” songs.

“You Got It” // Roy Orbison

Roy Orbison was also part of the Traveling Wilburys with Harrison and Petty. “You Got It” was a collaboration between Petty, Orbison, and fellow Wilbury Jeff Lynne, and it was released on Orbison’s posthumous album, Mystery Girl. “You Got It” was the first single off Mystery Girl and went to number nine on the U.S. charts in 1989, becoming Orbison’s first top 10 hit single since 1964’s “(Oh) Pretty Woman.”

“Got My Mind Made Up” // Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan’s 1986 album Knocked Out Loaded may not be one of the artist's most highly regarded LPs, but it did have some high-caliber collaborations. It included the song “Brownsville Girl,” co-written by Dylan and Sam Shepard, as well as “Got My Mind Made Up,” a collaboration between Dylan and Petty. The pair went on to perform the song together several times over the years.

Dylan also lent his legendary songwriting skills to Petty's “Jammin’ Me" for Let Me Up (I’ve Had Enough), a song co-written by the duo and Mike Campbell. “‘Jammin' Me’ was interesting because I wrote the track and gave it to Tom, and he held it for a while and didn't do anything with it,” Campbell recalled of that collaboration, per Songfacts.

“Then I guess he was working with Bob one day, and they came up with some words—I guess they were picking words out of a newspaper or off the television, and Tom said 'Oh, I've got this track of Mike's' and they inserted those words over the track. I wasn't there when Bob wrote the words to it, but I was pretty thrilled to hear that he had contributed to it. We just went in and recreated the demo to it.”

“Blown Away” // Jeff Lynne

Lynne partnered with Petty to produce the album Full Moon Fever, to great success. While many of the songs on that album are credited to both Petty and Lynne, the song “Blown Away” is the pair’s only collaboration that Lynne released on his solo album, Armchair Theater.

“Leave Virginia Alone” // Rod Stewart

“Leave Virginia Alone” was originally written for Tom Petty’s album Wildflowers, but didn’t wind up making the cut. Petty then gave the song to Rod Stewart, who featured it on his album A Spanner In the Works. Petty’s own version was released posthumously on the 2020 album Wildflowers & All The Rest.

“King of the Hill” // Roger McGuinn

The Byrds were a major influence on Tom Petty, who once described himself as “their biggest fan” and elsewhere said they were the reason he moved to Los Angeles. Petty’s voice has also frequently been compared to McGuinn’s, so things came full circle for Petty when he collaborated with Byrds frontman Roger McGuinn as he was re-launching his career in the early ‘90s.

Petty and McGuinn hit the books for this one, reading biographies of famous figures in rock history and using their stories to pen a song about someone at the pinnacle of their career. What emerged was “King of the Hill,” a song featured on McGuinn’s 1991 solo album Back From Rio.

The recording session apparently didn’t go so smoothly, with Petty reportedly getting in an argument with McGuinn’s manager and expressing some doubts about what they were working on. However, “King of the Hill”—while not a major hit—wound up becoming an enduring time capsule of Petty and McGuinn’s artistic synergy.

“Never Be You” // Maria McKee

In the latter half of his career, more of Petty’s songs started to be used for films. He even composed the background music for the film She’s the One.

Petty also penned the country-influenced tune “Never Be You” with the original intention to give it to Rosanne Cash. First, though, it was picked up by Maria McKee, who recorded it for use in the film Streets of Fire. Cash eventually recorded her own hit version as well, as did Petty.