Full statement: pic.twitter.com/FGCVI5yIaa
— Tom Petty (@tompetty) October 3, 2017
Tom Petty is dead. His family confirmed the news late Monday night on Twitter. The full announcement read:
On behalf of the Tom Petty family, we are devastated to announce the untimely death of our father, husband, brother, leader and friend, Tom Petty.
He suffered cardiac arrest at his home in Malibu in the early hours of this morning and was taken to UCLA Medical Center but could not be revived. He died peacefully at 8:40 PM PST surrounded by his family, his bandmates, and friends.
-Tony Dimitriades, longtime manager of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers.
A minor side note: “PST” should read “PDT,” presumably — California is still on daylight time.
This formal announcement of Tom Petty’s death followed mistaken death reports yesterday afternoon from CBS News, Rolling Stone and other outlets. Alas, Petty hung on for only a few more hours after that. Petty was 66 years old.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers perform live on July 2, 2008 at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo: Sam Wilson / WENN)
Rolling Stone how has re-published its Tom Petty obituary, and it’s full of lively details:
In 1961, he met Elvis Presley, who was shooting a film in Ocala, Florida, and it became a “life-altering moment” for the young Petty. Soon after, he got his first guitar as a preteen and joined his first band in the mid-Sixties. He quit high school at age 17 to join the southern-rock group Mudcrutch, which was taking off at the time.
And what were you doing when you were age 17? It worked for Petty: he and the Heartbreakers were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. Happy trails to you, Mr. Petty, wherever you may be.
Nowsee our full Tom Petty biography »