Tom Petty, U.S Rock Star Dies Of Heart Attack

Tom Earl Petty, American singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist has died at the age of 66, Tony Dimitriades, his longtime manager, confirmed the death.

Petty was said to have died after he suffered full cardiac arrest in his home in California on Sunday.

He was rushed to UCLA Santa Monica Hospital, where he died on Monday at 11:40 p.m. ET, according to the TMZ.

“We are devastated to announce the untimely death of our father, husband, brother, leader and friend Tom Petty,” Dimitriades said on behalf of the family.

“He died peacefully at 8.40pm surrounded by family, his bandmates and friends.”

Petty had just concluded his 40th anniversary tour on Sept. 25 in Los Angeles with his band, The Heartbreakers, the band he formed in the mid-1970s.

In an interview with Rolling Stone in December, he suggested it would probably be his last.

“We’re all on the backside of our 60s,” 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.”

Mr. Petty’s songs were staples of FM rock radio through decades, and with hits like “Refugee,” “Don’t Come Around Here No More,” “Free Fallin’” and “Into the Great Wide Open,” Mr. Petty sold millions of albums and headlined arenas and festivals well into 2017. He played the Super Bowl halftime show in 2008 and entered the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.