Tom Petty, lead singer of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, died on Monday, his family announced. He was 66.
Petty was found unconscious in his home Sunday night and was rushed to the UCLA Medical Center at Santa Monica while in “full cardiac arrest,” according to TMZ. The outlet reported he was taken off life support the next day when he was found to have “no brain activity.”
Several news outlets, including HuffPost, had announced the singer’s death earlier Monday after the Los Angeles Police Department “inadvertently provided [info] to some media sources.” The outlets walked those reports back, and the police apologized for the error.
Late Monday, the band’s manager released a statement confirming the death of the music icon:
Petty’s music career kicked off in 1976 with his band’s self-titled first album, which included the Top 40 hit “Breakdown.” Over the following decades, the band turned out over a dozen studio albums and a steady string of hits that included “Don’t Do Me Like That,” “Refugee,” “Free Fallin’” and “American Girl.” Petty kept busy by also recording with the rock group Mudcrutch and the Traveling Wilburys, a folk-rock supergroup featuring Bob Dylan, George Harrison and others.
Dylan, reached by Rolling Stone, described Petty’s death as “shocking, crushing news” and said he would always remember his friend.
“I thought the world of Tom,” he told the outlet. “He was great performer, full of the light, a friend, and I’ll never forget him.”
Petty was born in Gainesville, Florida, on Oct. 20, 1950. He quit high school when he was just 17 to join Mudcrutch, a rock group that would include two of his future bandmates, Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench. The pair would join Petty to become longtime members of the Heartbreakers in 1975. The newly formed group released their debut album, “Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers,” a year later.
The group had a slow beginning but became a hit a few years later with the album “Damn the Torpedoes,” which sold 3 million copies and was certified multiplatinum. Petty and the Heartbreakers continued to tour for decades, releasing hit record after hit record, including several with Petty billed as a solo artist with backing from several bandmates.
The hit song “Free Fallin’” came in 1989 as part of the album “Full Moon Fever,” which sold 5 million copies and went on to become his best-selling record.
Following the end of his first marriage, to Jane Benyo, after more than 20 years, Petty fought and overcame heroin addiction in the late 1990s, spending time in rehab. He went on to produce more hit records and tour the world, including two headlining spots at the Bonnaroo Music Festival. He married his second wife, Dana York, in 2001.
Petty was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002 alongside the rest of the Heartbreakers, and said he was humbled by the honor.
“A rock star is the single purest mainstream manifestation of the American dream,” he said at the time. “I marvel at this.”
The Heartbreakers have continued to perform with few changes to the band’s original lineup, marking the 40th anniversary of their debut record last year. Their anniversary tour kicked off in April, but in an interview with Rolling Stone, Petty called it the group’s “last big one.”
“We’re all on the backside of our sixties,” he said. “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.”
Petty’s daughter AnnaKim shared a series of Instagram posts late Monday remembering her father’s legacy and her experiences growing up the child of a rock star. Early Tuesday morning, she posted one final image of Petty with the words “RIP.”
Petty is survived by his wife, Dana York, his daughters Adria and AnnaKim, and a stepson, Dylan.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
This story has been updated to include confirmation Petty died, as well as to account for earlier mistaken reports of his death.
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