A few weeks after its release, Petty: The Biography is a best-seller on Amazon, and it’s with good reason.
The book, hailed by Rolling Stone as “one of the best rock biographies in recent memory,” is written by Warren Zanes. Not just an accomplished author, he’s also a friend, colleague and fellow musician to Petty, which makes him uniquely qualified for the job.
“I met him first when I was still a teenager and a devoted Tom Petty fan,” Zanes told NPR’s World Cafe, when asked how he was able to get to know Tom Petty so intimately. “We, my band, the Del Fuegos did a full summer tour with them. And I can’t say I got to know him well at that point, but I think I got to know him enough.”
In his 20s, Zanes quit the music business to pursue an academic career, maintaining no contact with Petty. 12 years later, he wrote and released Dusty in Memphis (33 1/3). The book made it into Tom Petty’s hands and even inspired him to write a song. It was at that point that Petty’s management got in touch with Zanes, and thus began, as Zanes calls it, “a second chapter in [their] relationship.”
Described as honest and evocative, Petty: The Biography spans all 65 years of the reclusive rocker’s story; from his hillbilly upbringing in Gainesville, Florida, to seeing the Beatles on Ed Sullivan, to backing up Bob Dylan, to making his own indelible mark on rock and roll history. Rolling Stone calls it “the definitive account of Petty’s life”.
“Imagine a long ride on the tour bus with Tom and the Heartbreakers where everyone was feeling loose enough to tell all their stories. What a historic night that would be,” says Eddie Vedder. “This book is that.”
If there’s a Tom Petty fan in your life this holiday season, grab this, in hardcover, on Amazon and cross them off your gift list.
Warren Zanes is currently teaching at New York University. His has written books about the history of Warner Bros. Records and Dusty Springfield’s Dusty in Memphis and was a consulting producer on Morgan Neville’s Oscar-winning 20 Feet from Stardom. He is a former vice president of education and programs at the rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum and is currently the executive director of Steven Van Zandt’s Rock and Roll Forever Foundation.
