Tom Petty was a heroin addict in the ’90s. Here’s why he’s finally talking about it.

The idea for a new unauthorized Tom Petty biography came from a surprising source: Tom Petty.

“He didn’t want it to be authorized because he felt like authorized meant bull—-,” says Warren Zanes, whose “Petty: The Biography” arrives next month. “He said, ‘I want it to be yours. And I can’t tell you what you can and can’t write.’”

The result is a penetrating profile in which Petty opens up for the first time about his heroin addiction, something he had sliced out of Peter Bogdanovich’s four-hour documentary, 2007’s “Runnin’ Down a Dream.” Zanes also coaxed Stan Lynch, the ex-drummer of Petty’s longtime backing band, The Heartbreakers, to talk unflinchingly about his falling-out with Petty. And there’s plenty more as Zanes, granted full access, reports on the creation of not just Petty’s biggest records, “Damn the Torpedoes,” and “Full Moon Fever,” but his less appreciated gems, including 1999’s “Echo.” Zanes is more than a fan: In 1987, his band, the Del Fuegos, opened gigs for their hero. Years later, Petty, fascinated by the Dusty Springfield book Zanes wrote, invited him to dinner and rekindled their friendship. Zanes spoke by telephone about “Petty.”

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