Tom Petty Found Himself in an ‘Uncomfortable’ Position Because of His Biography
In 2015, Warren Zanes released the biography of Tom Petty. While the musician said he hadn’t wanted an authorized biography, he had worked closely with Zanes to provide interviews and organize meetings with the important people in his life. He didn’t want to edit anything at the end, though, which meant that previously unknown information about his life and relationships came to light. According to Zanes, Petty found himself in a bit of an uncomfortable position because of this.
Tom Petty didn’t want to edit his biography
When Petty reached out to ask Zanes if he wanted to write his biography, he explained that he had several rules. First, it was Zanes’ book, not his own, so he didn’t want it to be authorized.
“If at the time I wasn’t sure what kind of sense all of these terms made — not authorized? — by the end of the process I knew Petty was right about every point,” Zanes wrote for Rolling Stone.
Though Petty was helping with the biography — which typically would make it authorized — he didn’t want to change anything about it, even if it would make him look better.
“It was based on his own reaction to authorized books,” Zanes told Best Classic Bands. “He said he feels like when he sees that on the front top of the book, he knows it’s going to be bulls***: an inside, white-washed account and he said, ‘I want this to be your book. Not ghost-written, not co-written, not authorized.'”
His biographer explained that some of the details may have made people uncomfortable
Petty divulged more information to Zanes than he typically shared in interviews. Through Petty: The Biography, details about his first marriage and heroin addiction came to light. They were not always comfortable stories to tell, but it provided an honest portrait of the musician. Not everyone was happy with this, though.
“The second half of the book, involving divorce and heroin use and the blending of families, got some divided responses among Petty’s family members, some contention, some trouble,” Zanes wrote. “I think Petty found himself at the center of it, and in a way that proved uncomfortable.”
Still, Zanes believed that this was the book Petty had wanted published.
“My job, from the beginning, had been to tell the man’s story based on interviews, primarily those with him. And that’s what I’d done,” he explained. “But that going public part of the process changed things, brought some strain. If it hadn’t, I believe that the absence of strain would have been the sign that I’d failed in writing the book Petty wanted me to write.”
Tom Petty ended up changing one part of his biography
Though Petty hadn’t wanted to change anything about Zanes’ book, he had asked for an opportunity to read it over before publication. When he did, he requested to change one single thing.
“There was a comment about Bob Dylan, nothing alarming by any stretch, not even negative in tone,” Zanes explained. “It was taken from an interview done in the Eighties. Petty asked if I could please remove that, out of respect for Bob. When I explained that it didn’t come from our interviews, that it was already in print and would be cited as such, Petty said, ‘Well, I got away with it once.’ I took it out.”
