Veteran rocker Tom Petty, best known for hits such as “Free Fallin’” and “American Girl,” died on Monday after he was found unconscious and in cardiac arrest, his manager said. He was 66. Petty suffered cardiac arrest at his home in Malibu early on Monday morning and was taken to UCLA Medical Center but could not be revived, his long-time manager Tony Dimitriades said in a statement.
“We are devastated to announce the untimely death of our father, husband, brother, leader and friend Tom Petty,” Reuters quoted Dimitriades as saying on behalf of the family.
He died peacefully at 8:40 p.m. local time (0340 GMT Tuesday) surrounded by family, his bandmates and friends.
Petty, best known for his roots-infused rock music, carved a career as a solo artist as well as with his band The Heartbreakers and as part of supergroup The Traveling Wilburys.
He who drew upon the Byrds, the Beatles and other bands he adored as a boy and produced new classics such as "Free Fallin,' "Refugee" and "American Girl," has died. He was 66.
Tour
Petty and his longtime band the Heartbreakers had recently completed a 40th anniversary tour, one he hinted would be their last.
"I'm thinking it may be the last trip around the country," Petty told Rolling Stone last year. "We're all on the backside of our 60s. I have a granddaughter now I'd like to see as much as I can. I don't want to spend my life on the road. This tour will take me away for four months. With a little kid, that's a lot of time."
Usually backed by the Heartbreakers, Petty broke through in the 1970s and went on to sell more than 80 million records. The Gainesville, Florida, native with the shaggy blond hair and gaunt features was loved for his melodic hard rock, nasally vocals and down-to-earth style.
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which inducted Petty and the Heartbreakers in 2002, praised them as "durable, resourceful, hard-working, likeable and unpretentious."
"I'm shocked and saddened by the news of Tom's passing, he's such a huge part of our musical history, there'll never be another like him." Eric Clapton wrote in a statement.
Petty's albums included "Damn the Torpedoes," ''Hard Promises" and "Full Moon Fever," although his first No. 1 did not come until 2014 and "Hypnotic Eye."
As a songwriter, he focused often on daily struggles and the will to overcome them, most memorably on "Refugee," ''Even the Losers" and "I Won't Back Down."
"It's sort of the classic theme of a lot of the work I've done," he told The Associated Press in 1989. "I think faith is very important just to get through life. I think it's really important that you believe in yourself, first of all. It's a very hard to thing to come by. But when you get it, it's invaluable."
Petty didn't just sing about not backing down, he lived it. In 1979, he was enraged when his record label was sold and his contract transferred.
Stating that he would not be "bought and sold like a piece of meat," he self-financed what became "Damn the Torpedoes" and declared bankruptcy rather than allowing his label, MCA, to release it. He eventually reached a new deal with MCA, for better terms. In the early 1980s, he was again at war with MCA, this time over the label's plans to charge extra money, a dollar higher than the standard $8.98, for his album "Hard Promises."
He again prevailed.
Petty was both a musician and obsessive fan, one who met his childhood heroes and lived out the fantasies of countless young rock lovers.
He befriended Byrds leader Roger McGuinn and became close to George Harrison, who performed on "I Won't Back Down" and joined Petty, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne in the impromptu super group the Traveling Wilburys.
Petty inducted Harrison into the Rock Hall in 2004" two years earlier Dylan's son Jakob inducted Petty. In the 1980s, Petty and the Heartbreakers supported Bob Dylan on a nationwide tour.
He would speak of being consumed by rock music since childhood, to the point where his father, whom Petty would later say beat him savagely, thought he was "mental." Awed by the chiming guitars of the Byrds, the melodic genius of the Beatles and the snarling lyrics of Dylan, he was amazed to find that other kids were feeling the same way.
"You'd go and see some other kid whose hair was long, this was around '65, and go, 'Wow, there's one like me,'" he told The Associated Press in 1989. "You'd go over and talk and he'd say, 'I've got a drum set.' 'You do? Great!' That was my whole life."
By his early 20s, Petty had formed the group Mudcrutch with fellow Gainesville natives and future Heartbreakers (guitarist) Mike Campbell and (keyboardist) Benmont Tench. They soon broke up, but reunited in Los Angeles as the Heartbreakers, joined by bassist Ron Blair and drummer Stan Lynch. Their eponymous debut album came out in 1976 and they soon built a wide following, fitting easily into the New Wave sounds of the time.
The world changed more than Petty did over the past few decades. In 2014, around the time he received an ASCAP Founders Award, he told The Associated Press that he thought of himself as "kind of a music historian."
"I'm always interested in the older music, and I'm still always discovering things that I didn't know about," he said. "To be honest, I really probably spend more time listening to the old stuff than I do the new stuff."
Earlier report
Los Angeles: A spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department says it has no information on the well-being of Tom Petty and its spokespeople did not provide info CBS News used to report the rocker had died.
Officer Tony Im said Monday that the LAPD did not respond to any incident involving the rocker.
CBS has since amended its story, and the trade Variety also retracted its obituary, which cited an unnamed source confirming Petty's death.
"It was not our office, definitely not," Im said Monday afternoon. "If it's not a police matter, our public information office does not comment on stuff like that"
"We apologize for any inconvenience in this reporting," the department said in a statement.
The news outlets reported Monday afternoon that Petty was dead at age 66. CBS did not cite a source in its story, but tweeted that LAPD confirmed Petty's death. CBS and Variety now cite TMZ reporting that says Petty is "clinging to life."
Coroner's officials said Monday they have not received a report of Petty's death. Fire officials have said they responded to an emergency call for a man experience cardiac arrest on the block where Petty lives in Malibu on Sunday night, but could not confirm it was the rocker who was taken to a local hospital.
Petty's manager did not respond to emails and phone calls seeking comment Monday.
The reports led to the scheduling of a memorial at Petty's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, but that was canceled. Reports of Petty's death also prompted an outpouring of grief on Twitter, where he was the top worldwide trending topic Monday afternoon. Musicians such as Juliette Lewis, Courtney Love, Talib Kweli, Kid Rock, Cyndi Lauper, Paul Stanley and Lin-Manuel Miranda were among those posting remembrances.
