Top 10 Tom Petty Duets And Collaborations

Photo: Takahiro Kyono from Tokyo, Japan [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)]

Our Top 10 Tom Petty Duets and Collaborations list looks at some of the most enjoyable Tom Petty recordings and performances created with other artists throughout his magnificent career. Tom Petty spent most of his career writing and recording with the Heartbreakers, an extraordinary collaboration in its own right. Beyond that band, however, Tom Petty frequently joined forces with other rock legends onstage and in the studio.

Petty also became a member of one of rock music’s greatest supergroups, the Traveling Wilburys. The lineup connected him with the Beatles’ George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, and Jeff Lynne. It remains remarkable that Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, and Tom Petty all made music together.

Our Top 10 Tom Petty Duets and Collaborations list celebrates highlights from Tom Petty’s work with artists who helped shape classic rock history.

# 10 – Traveling Wilburys

We open our Top 10 Tom Petty Duets and Collaborations list with perhaps Tom Petty’s most significant collaboration. The Traveling Wilburys were not merely a supergroup; they were a dream group. Five musical legends came together in the studio with a relaxed spirit that made the project feel spontaneous rather than calculated. Each member had already built an iconic career, yet the songs on the group’s two albums were credited to the Traveling Wilburys collectively. The result was a rare case of enormous stars sounding like friends who simply enjoyed making music together.

# 9 – Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around – Stevie Nicks

Tom Petty and Mike Campbell wrote “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around”, which became one of Stevie Nicks’ first and biggest solo hits. Released on her debut album, Bella Donna, the recording paired Stevie Nicks with Petty and the Heartbreakers at the beginning of her solo career.

Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty performed the song together many times. Their final shared stage appearance took place at London’s British Summer Time Festival on July 9, 2017, only a few months before Tom Petty’s death. Fortunately for fans, this was far from the only time Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty made magic together.

# 8 – Got My Mind Made Up – Bob Dylan

“Don’t ever try to change me; I’ve been in this too long.” “Got My Mind Made Up” was written by Tom Petty and Bob Dylan. The loose, cryptic lyric and hard-driving arrangement made the song a natural fit for Dylan’s 1986 album Knocked Out Loaded.

Bob Dylan performed the song live only once, on June 9, 1986. His partnership with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers extended well beyond the recording studio. Petty and his band backed Bob Dylan at Live Aid on July 13, 1985, and later accompanied him on tour.

# 7 – Blown Away – Jeff Lynne

Jeff Lynne became one of Tom Petty’s closest creative partners, producing major albums and co-writing some of Petty’s best-known songs. The two also co-wrote “Blown Away,” which appeared on Lynne’s first solo album, Armchair Theatre, in 1990. George Harrison appeared elsewhere on the album, while “Blown Away” featured another former Beatle, Ringo Starr, on drums.

# 6 – Insider – Stevie Nicks

Again, stars collide. Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty worked together in several ways throughout their spectacular careers. They shared stages, recorded duets, and supported one another’s music. Stevie Nicks also contributed backing vocals to several Tom Petty recordings.

“Insider” was initially intended for Nicks, but Petty ultimately kept the song for the Heartbreakers. Released in 1981 on Hard Promises, it became one of the album’s most affecting deep cuts, with Nicks adding harmony vocals that gave the performance an unmistakable emotional pull.

# 5 – The Running Kind – Johnny Cash

When it comes to American music, Johnny Cash is royalty. Johnny Cash was never afraid to reinterpret another songwriter’s work, and his version of Merle Haggard’s “The Running Kind” became especially memorable because of Tom Petty’s presence.

The recording brought Johnny Cash together with Tom Petty and members of the Heartbreakers. Cash’s weathered lead vocal and Petty’s harmony singing fit naturally around Haggard’s restless lyric. Released on Cash’s 2003 box set Unearthed, the performance captured the mutual respect between two unmistakable American voices.

# 4 – Mudcrutch

Mudcrutch was Tom Petty’s first major rock and roll band, formed years before Tom Petty became a household name. After Mudcrutch broke apart, Petty, Mike Campbell, and Benmont Tench carried their musical partnership into Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

Rather than leave his early band in the past, Tom Petty reunited Mudcrutch with Campbell, Tench, Randall Marsh, and Tom Leadon. The restored lineup released its self-titled debut album in 2008. Tom Petty and the group returned in 2016 with Mudcrutch 2, giving the old Florida band a remarkable second chapter.

# 3 – The Best of Everything – Richard Manuel

On the Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers album Southern Accents, “The Best of Everything” stands as one of the record’s most moving performances. Robbie Robertson helped shape the production, while his former Band partners Richard Manuel and Garth Hudson brought their distinctive musical character to the track.

With Tom Petty delivering the lead vocal, Manuel supplying harmony vocals, and Hudson adding keyboards, the song carries a bittersweet grandeur that makes it feel larger with every listen.

# 2 – Needles and Pins – Stevie Nicks

Written by Jack Nitzsche and Sonny Bono, “Needles and Pins” was first recorded by Jackie DeShannon in 1963 and became an international hit for the Searchers the following year. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers later recorded a live version with Stevie Nicks for 1985’s Pack Up the Plantation: Live!.

The album was Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ first live release. Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks turned the song into an exuberant duet, their voices trading lines over the Heartbreakers’ ringing guitars. The Ramones also recorded the song in 1978, following versions by Smokie, the Searchers, and DeShannon.

# 1 – I Will Run to You – Stevie Nicks

We close our Top 10 Tom Petty Duets and Collaborations list with another beautiful duet featuring Stevie Nicks. As this list demonstrates, Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks shared a lasting bond and created decades of memorable music together. Written and produced by Tom Petty, “I Will Run to You” captures the emotional power of their partnership.

The blend of Stevie Nicks’ smoky voice and Tom Petty’s unmistakable drawl forms an underrated harmonic masterpiece. Although it was not released as a U.S. single, the song reached No. 35 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock chart. “I Will Run to You” appeared on Stevie Nicks’ second solo album, The Wild Heart.

We are fast losing the musical geniuses of our time. Tom Petty brought an unmistakable sound, a sharp songwriter’s instinct, and more than a few memorable hats to the stage. He wrote, produced, and sang with some of the greatest talents in classic rock history. Following what became their final performance together, Stevie Nicks told the Hyde Park crowd, “You know Tom Petty is my favorite rock star.” Stevie Nicks always had pretty good taste. Godspeed, Mad Dog, a true rocker at heart.

Updated August 5, 2026.