A heat-assisted magnetic recording head includes a slider, an edge-emitting laser diode fixed to the slider, and an external mirror provided outside the slider. The slider includes a magnetic pole, a waveguide, and a near-field light generating element. The laser diode includes: an emitting end face that lies at an end in a direction parallel to the plane of an active layer and includes a laser-light emission part; and a mounting surface that lies at an end in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the active layer and faces the slider. The external mirror includes: a first reference surface that is parallel to the emitting end face and faces the emitting end face; a second reference surface that is parallel to the mounting surface and faces toward the same direction as the mounting surface does; and a reflecting surface that connects the first and second reference surfaces to each other and reflects the laser light emitted from the emission part toward the waveguide.