Photo credit: Sam Jones
By Martine Ehrenclou
Legendary musician and front man for Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, has died at age 66. Petty suffered a full cardiac arrest and was found unconscious in his home in Malibu,CA, according to TMZ. Petty was rushed to Santa Monica UCLA Hospital and placed on life support. TMZ reported that the hospital found no brain activity when he arrived. According to the Los Angeles Times, Petty’s longtime manager, Tony Dimitriades, Tom Petty passed away this evening at 8:40pm.
Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers performed at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles last week, the last stop on the band’s 40th Anniversary Tour. The band’s website reported that the tour included 53 shows in 24 states.
Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers’ most recent release in 2014, Hypnotic Eye, hit #1 on the charts. Damn The Torpedoes was Tom Petty’s break out album in 1979 with top 40 hit singles, “Don’t Do Me Like That” and Refugee.” The band released several more hits including, “American Girl” “Free Fallin’” “Breakdown” “Listen to her Heart” and others. They sold over 60 million records.
Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers were inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002 and won three Grammy Awards. They released 13 albums, including eight top 10 albums and nine top 20 albums. Their greatest hits album sold more than 10 million copies. Petty released three solo albums as well.
Tom Petty also played in the 1980’s supergroup, The Traveling Wilburys with Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, George Harrison and Jeff Lynne.
On Sirius/XM radio, Petty had a very popular radio show called, “Tom Petty’s Buried Treasure.” You can find that here.
Peter Bogdanovich directed a documentary about Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers titled, Runnin’ Down a Dream that was released in 2007. It can be found here.
Tom Petty will be truly missed. He will always be remembered for his tremendous musical contributions and imprint on Rock and Roll. He is survived by his second wife, Dana York Petty and his daughters, Adria and Annakim.
Tom Petty was a talented musician who remained relevant to his fans and to the music industry for four decades. He was a good-hearted man, whose love for his music and his fans was genuine. Rest in peace, Tom and thank you for all of the music.
Dave,
Thhanks for your comment. RIP Tom Petty.
See you Charlie T Wilbury Look out for Lefty and Nelson Wilbury !!;RipTom ,Now your Free Falling !!:;()
I’m 56 and although never met Tom feel like we’ve been friends for years.i tried to explain to My 20 year old son what Tom Petty meant to my life. I went to all of his concerts can’t remember ever missing one bought all of his albums loved his music. I truly feel that he was rock and roll 4 people growing up in there late 70s and 80s he will be greatly missed and it pains me to realize I’ll never be able to go to another Tom Petty concert
Terry
Thanks for sharing what Tom Petty meant to you. He will greatly missed. RIP
I hate this. Petty was always one of my favourites. His music spanned generations of my life, from rebellious teen with Damn the Torpedoes, to more reflective adult with Into the Great Wide Open. This is a huge loss. I’m lucky to have seen the heartbreakers about 2 dozen times. Also, one of the three best Dylan shows I’ve ever seen was when he had the heartbreakers as his band and Tom roamed the stage playing guitar, doing background vocals, occasionally singing his own set, and generally being a wilbury and annoying Bob. RIP Tom Petty. You’ve left us way too soon. Say hi to Spike as well as your brothers Lefty and Nelson.
Mick,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts about Tom Petty.
The first time I saw Tom Petty it was in a small restaurant by TGIF in Memphis in the late 70,s, thought he was great then and always will , you will be missed by many and never forgotten , Rip Tom Petty, you deserve it!!!!
Joyce,
Thanks for sharing your experience with Tom Petty and his music. RIP.
Tom was an inspiration for many of us musicians. we perform a lot of his music weekly and we as a group were devoted fans and are devastated by this loss. we will continue sharing his music for many years to come, so the new generations will understand what real music sounds like. this heart ache is as intense as when we lost John Lennon, another music legend. Another great music artist has been lost to soon. Rest in peace Tom, you will be in my dreams.
Dawn,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts about Tom Petty, especially as a musician.
Another legend and great musician gone to soon. I can only imagine him joining the other musicians in the great gig in the sky? What a concert.
Tom you will be missed.
Joseph,
You’re so right. Gone way too soon. I imagine Petty is up there with some of the greats. Thank you for your comment.
Last night while trying to explain to my musician sons ( one in his twenties, the other in his thirties), just what a joy it was to have him and the band show up when they did. Working in FM radio in the 70’s and 80’s, there was so much rubbish being played, I treasured the opportunity to play their material. Definitely will be missed.
Rick,
Thanks for sharing your experience. I hope your sons got it, understood what Tom Petty meant to you. I bet they did.