"Breakdown" is the first single from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' eponymous debut album. It became a top 40 hit in the United States and Canada.Joel Whitburn, Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles: 1955-2010, Record Research, 2011.

Played live, Petty sometimes incorporated "Breakdown" with Ray Charles's "Hit the Road Jack". A live recording of this variation appears on The Live Anthology.

Background "Breakdown" was a song written and recorded for the band's debut album. Initially, the song had lead guitarist Mike Campbell with a distinct guitar lick being played only near the end of the song. While playing it back one night, Tom Petty and Dwight Twilley, a bandmate of Phil Seymour, were in the studio, and Twilley enjoyed it. He suggested that the lick should be used throughout the song, and Petty obliged. At 2 AM, he gathered the Heartbreakers to join him in re-recording the song. Their final take was seven to eight minutes long, but it was pared down to 2 minutes and 39 seconds on the album. Guests on the song's recording include guitarist Jeff Jourard, a common collaborator with the band in their early days, and Phil Seymour, who sings backing vocals.

Reception Record World called it a "slow, sultry rocker, dominated by guitar, with Petty's distinctive vocal again standing out."

Track listing 7" single (US, 1976) A. "Breakdown" – 2:39 B. "The Wild One, Forever" – 3:01

7" single (US, 1977) A. "Breakdown" – 2:39 B. "Fooled Again (I Don't Like It)" – 3:54

7" single (Germany, 1977) A. "Breakdown" – 2:42 B. "Luna" – 3:59

7" single (Spain, 1978) A. "Breakdown" – 2:42 B. "Strangered in the Night" – 3:32

Charts Chart (1977–1978) Peakposition US Billboard Hot 10040 US Cash Box Top 100Cash Box Top 100 Singles, February 11, 197833 Canada RPM Top Singles40

Certification

Grace Jones version

Jamaican singer Grace Jones recorded a reggae-inflected version of the song on her 1980 album Warm Leatherette. Petty wrote a third verse of the song specifically for Jones to record; "It's OK if you must go / I'll understand if you don't / You say goodbye right now / I'll still survive somehow / Why should we let this drag on?" The song was edited from its full, 5:30 album version to a 3-minute-long track on single release. It was released as a US-only single in October 1980 but did not chart.

Reception Billboard listed "Breakdown" as one of its recommended soul singles for the week of October 25, 1980.

Track listing 7" single – IS 49603 A. "Breakdown" (Edit) – 3:00 B. "Warm Leatherette" – 4:24

12" promo – PRO-A-920 A. "Breakdown" (Album version) – 5:30 B1. "Breakdown" (Edit) – 3:10 B2. "Warm Leatherette" – 4:24

Ryan Hurd version American country music singer-songwriter Ryan Hurd released his version of "Breakdown" on April 11, 2024 featuring guest vocals from Carly Pearce. The song was released as a promotional single for the tribute album, Petty Country: A Country Music Celebration of Tom Petty.

References