Rock legend Tom Petty died on Monday, October 2. He was 66.
“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,” Petty’s longtime manager Tony Dimitriades confirmed in a statement to Us Weekly on behalf of the singer’s family. “He died peacefully at 8:40 p.m. PT surrounded by family, his bandmates and friends.”
The three-time Grammy winner was best known as the lead singer of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, the rock group behind hit singles including “American Girl,” “Free Fallin'” and “I Won’t Back Down.” Additionally, he was a member and cofounder of the late 1980s supergroup the Traveling Wilburys, which also consisted of Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne and Roy Orbison.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.
Petty performed his final concert at the Hollywood Bowl on Monday, September 25, just one week before his death. The show was the last date of the Heartbreakers’ extensive 40th anniversary tour. In a recent interview, the singer-songwriter admitted the tour “may be the last trip around the country.”
“We’re all on the backside of our 60s,” he told Rolling Stone in December 2016. “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.”
The musician is survived by his wife, Dana York; daughters Adria and AnnaKim from his previous marriage to Jane Benyo; and stepson Dylan.
