Update Oct. 2, 8:30 p.m.: Rock iconoclast Tom Petty continues to hold on after multiple media outlets reported falsely that he died on Monday. Instagram account dadlivesmatteronelove is reportedly run by Petty’s daughter Adria Petty and she had some strong words for the media, specifically Rolling Stone.
“@rollingstone my dad is not dead yet but your f–king magazine is ⚡️⚡️⚡️your slime? has been pieces of tabloid dog sh-t,” she wrote. “You put the worst artists on your covers do zero research. How dare you report that my father has died just to get press because your articles and photos are so dated. I will f–king sh-t down your throat and your family’s . Try not being a trump vibe. This is my father not a celebrity. An artist and human being. F–k u”
TMZ broke the story that Petty, 66, was found unconscious in his Malibu home. Inaccurate information was given to the media and Petty was erroneously reported dead earlier on Monday.
CBS tweeted that the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed that Petty had died, but a spokesman for the LAPD denied providing the information. Officer Tony Im said the LAPD did not respond to any calls at Petty’s home.
“It was not our office, definitely not,” Im said Monday afternoon, Canada’s 24-hour news network CP24 reported. “If it’s not a police matter, our public information office does not comment on stuff like that.”
Coroner’s officials told CP24 they have not received a report of Petty’s death.
Oof. I’m so sorry for the premature posting, It was so widely reported that I didn’t triple check. Pulling for Tom Petty. https://t.co/gU6erlrEBa
— Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) October 2, 2017
Sending love to Tom Petty and his family at this difficult time.
— Paul McCartney (@PaulMcCartney) October 2, 2017
Tom Petty’s daughter just shared this photo instagram ?? Keeping him in our prayers. pic.twitter.com/VWR0FmcVV7
— Caro (@DaOfficialCaro) October 3, 2017
RIP Tom Petty ? Such a shitty day
— Courtney Love Cobain (@Courtney) October 2, 2017
Hey everyone TOM PETTY IS NOT DEAD!! Let’s all send him healing energy!!! #prayfortompetty https://t.co/hgDcuM7gqF
— Juliette Lewis (@JulietteLewis) October 2, 2017
Just when I thought today could not get any worse…
R.I.P. Tom Petty. Thank you for your beautiful music and inspiration.— Kid Rock (@KidRock) October 2, 2017
Update Oct. 2, 6:45 p.m. ET: Singer Tom Petty continues to cling to life after false death reports. His wife Diana York called 911 when she found her husband not breathing at around 10:45 p.m. on Sunday.
Petty was found in his home in full cardiac arrest and unconscious. He was taken to a southern California hospital and put on life support, but no brain activity was seen. A chaplain administered last rights and Petty was taken off life support.
TMZ, which broke the story, reports Petty is “not expected to survive the day.”
Original article:
After conflicting reports that rock singer and legendary songwriter Tom Petty died, reports now say Petty is “clinging to life” on Monday after being found unconscious in his Malibu home.
CBS News had earlier reported that Petty, 66, had died after life support was switched off following cardiac arrest on Sunday. TMZ later reported, citing unidentified sources, that Petty was not expected to live much longer but was “still clinging to life.”
What happened to Tom Petty?
Petty was found unconscious after suffering a cardiac arrest at his Malibu home, celebrity news website TMZ.com said on Monday.
It was widely reported that the decision was made to take the “I Won’t Back Down” singer off life support after no brain activity was found, but TMZ updated its post saying the report of Petty’s death from the LAPD is “inaccurate.”
(1/2)The LAPD has no information about the passing of singer Tom Petty. Initial information was inadvertantly provided to some media sources
— LAPD HQ (@LAPDHQ) October 2, 2017
(2/2) However, the LAPD has no investigative role in this matter. We apologize for any inconvenience in this reporting.
— LAPD HQ (@LAPDHQ) October 2, 2017
The news of Petty’s death, which was erroneous, shocked and stunned prompting an outpouring of support from fans and colleagues.
“It’s shocking, crushing news,” Petty’s friend and Traveling Wilburys bandmate Bob Dylan told Rolling Stone in a statement. “I thought the world of Tom. He was great performer, full of the light, a friend, and I’ll never forget him.”
CBS News and celebrity website TMZ.com reported Petty’s death. Representatives for the singer did not return calls for confirmation.
TMZ cited law enforcement sources as saying Petty was rushed to a southern California hospital on Sunday night.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers 40th anniversary tour called “last trip around the country” by Petty.
Petty, 66, the frontman of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, performed three shows in Los Angeles in September with the band. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ 40th-anniversary tour was intended to be Petty’s “last trip around the country,” he said, Rolling Stone reported, but that he wasn’t announcing retirement.
“I want to make it celebratory,” Petty said before the tour launched. “I need something to do, or I tend to be a nuisance around the house.”
Who is Tom Petty?
Thomas Earl Petty was born in Gainesville, Florida, on Oct. 20th, 1950. He quit high school at age 17 to join the southern-rock group Mudcrutch, with guitarist Mike Campbell and keyboardist Benmont Tench. The band broke up in the mid-70s, but Petty, Campbell and Tench cut a demo in 1975 with featured bassist Ron Blair and drummer Stan Lynch. The Heartbreakers were born.
In the 80s, Petty collaborated with Dylan, Roy Orbison, George Harrison and Jeff Lynne in the supergroup the Traveling Wilburys.
Petty spoke about his heroin addiction for the first time in a 2015 unauthorized biography “Petty: The Biography.” According to author Warren Zanes, the idea for the book came from Petty himself.
Here’s what Zanes had to say to Geoff Edgers of The Washington Post when asked how a man in his 50s gets hooked on heroin:
“That happens when the pain becomes too much and you live in a world, in a culture, where people have reached in the direction of heroin to stop the pain. He’s a rock and roller. He had had encounters with people who did heroin, and he hit a point in his life when he did not know what to do with the pain he was feeling.”
He added:
“The first thing he said to me on the subject is ‘I am very concerned that talking about this is putting a bad example out there for young people. If anyone is going to think heroin is an option because they know my story of using heroin, I can’t do this.’ And I just had to work with him and say, ‘I think you’re going to come off as a cautionary tale rather than a romantic tale.’ But I wanted to show that Tom Petty is a man who lived the bulk of his life in the album cycle. He wrote songs, they recorded those songs, they put a record together with artwork, they released it, and they went out on the road to support it. Over and over and over and over and over. And he, being the leader of the band, had to do most of the work around it. I think he was invested in being caught in that cycle in part because there was so much movement in it all that the trouble from his past was kept at bay. But then, when he left his marriage and moved into a house, by himself, things slowed just long enough that all of that past came right as he’s coming into the pain of not being able to control the well-being of his kids and not being able to control a dialogue with his ex-wife. The classic situation of midlife pinning a person down to the mat.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
