“I don’t think it ever got as much attention as it should have”: Mike Campbell on the resurgence of Tom Petty’s Love Is A Long Road thanks to GTA 6

Since its feature in the Grand Theft Auto 6 trailer last December, Tom Petty’s 1989 rock anthem Love is a Long Road has enjoyed a resurgence, with massive spikes in streaming numbers.

According to statistics provided by Spotify (via BBC), streams for the track exploded by an impressive 36,979% in just one week — a feat that’s been a long time coming if you ask Mike Campbell, the co-founder and guitarist of Petty’s Heartbreakers band.

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“I was surprised to hear they were using it in some video game,” Campbell tells Uncut. “I’m glad, ‘cause I love that song and I don’t think it ever got as much attention as it should have.”

“I had a Harley-Davidson for a while, and to me, those chords sound like the gears shifting on the motorcycle,” he adds. “I think Tom sensed that when he heard the music, so he ended up writing about being on the road. I don’t play it with the Knobs, but maybe I will — we’ll see.”

The song, co-written by Campbell and co-produced with Jeff Lynne, was originally released as a B-side to Petty’s biggest hit, 1989’s Free Fallin’. The track previously peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart. It also appears on the 2000 2-CD compilation album Anthology: Through the Years, as well as on the 1995 box set Playback.

10 years in the making, the sixth instalment of the GTA franchise is set to arrive in 2025. Fans of Tom Petty can catch the trailer below, which features a shot of a “Petty Forever” sticker near the video’s end.