BREAKING NEWS: Tom Petty is being reported dead, after American news network CBS claimed that the LAPD had confirmed the singer’s death. The network have since changed their report in response to an LAPD denial.
The iconic musician was reported to have suffered a “full cardiac arrest” before being rushed to hospital in Santa Monica late on Sunday night. Celebrity news site TMZ further reported that a decision was made to pull life support when doctors could not detect any brain activity.
The LAPD have not confirmed that Petty is alive, only that they did not confirm his death, while accepting that “initial information was inadvertently provided to some media sources”.
The singer, who was inducted to the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame with his band Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers in 2002, was responsible for hits Refugee, Won’t Back Down, American Girl and Free Fallin’ among many others.
He went on to join folk rock supergroup The Traveling Wilburys with Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne and Roy Orbison in 1988. Their debut album, Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1, went 3x Platinum in the US, and won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal in 1990.
Petty’s last album, Hypnotic Eye, was released in 2014, and he had been performing regularly since, including an evening at the British Summer Time festival in Hyde Park in July this year.
Tributes have already poured in from across the rock world.
- When Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks conquered British Summer Time
- The Story Behind The Song: Refugee By Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
- The TeamRock+ Singles Club
- Read Classic Rock, Metal Hammer & Prog for free with TeamRock+
