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Tom Petty Dead At 66: Rock Legend Passes Away Hours After Reports Jumped The Gun

By Erika Miranda
Published on: 17:07 PST, Oct 2, 2017

Tom Petty passed away at the age of 66 after suffering from a cardiac arrest that led to several media outlets announcing his demise a bit too early.

The rock legend known for his hit songs “American Girl,” “Free Fallin’,” and “Last Dance With Mary Jane” has passed away at the UCLA Medical Center after he suffered from a heart attack on Monday morning, Entertainment Tonight reported.

Citing a statement from his longtime manager Tony Dimitriades, the outlet revealed that medical personnel at the hospital were not able to revive the singer who “died peacefully at 8:40pm PT surrounded by family, his bandmates and friends.”

“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,” Dimitriades said in the statement.

This update comes hours after several news outlets falsely reported about Petty’s death when he had just been rendered unconscious after the sudden cardiac arrest.

According to the New York Times, erroneous reports including one from CBS claimed the passing of the The Heartbreaker’s frontman known for his slightly nasally Southern voice caused a ripple of reaction from celebrities on social media.

Rolling Stone, a media institution that reported prematurely about Petty’s death, was even called out by the singer’s daughter for jumping the gun, as previously reported by the Inquisitr.

To top that off, the Los Angeles Police Department backpedaled on the premature report of his death, saying that they cannot confirm legendary musician’s demise and have no investigative power over the matter.

Based on NY Times’ report, tribute for Tom Petty poured after news of his death emerged—albeit prematurely—online from celebrities and fans alike, including Josh Groban, John Mayer, Joe Jonas, and even Stephen King.

While his passing may cause many to mourn, most of his friends are celebrating his life and legacies, which include four decades of bringing music that has been engraved into many American’s souls, 13 albums with The Heartbreakers, and three more solos including his solo debut “Full Moon Forever.”

According to ET, Petty continued his musical journey until his death as he recently concluded a tour to commemorate the 40th anniversary of his band.

Before he became a rock music legend, Petty was like any other child, longing to achieve his dream of becoming a rockstar. He even got a beating for it as he recalled being hit by his father savagely because he thought the young musician was “mental” for being so consumed by music in a 1989 interview with the Associated Press.

“You’d go and see some other kid whose hair was long, this was around ’65, and go, ‘Wow, there’s one like me.’ You’d go over and talk and he’d say, ‘I’ve got a drum set.’ ‘You do? Great!’ That was my whole life.”

Do you have something to say about Tom Petty’s death and life? Sound off in the comments below.

[Featured Image by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for J/P HRO]

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