Tom Petty Died of Accidental Overdose, Family Reports

Rock star Tom Petty died of an accidental drug overdose, his family said Friday in a statement on their Facebook page.

“Our family sat together this morning with the Medical Examiner – Coroner’s office and we were informed of their final analysis that Tom Petty passed away due to an accidental drug overdose as a result of taking a variety of medications,” the statement said.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Los Angeles coroner’s report stated that Petty’s death was “the result of the accidental mixing of several drugs.”

The family wrote in the post that Petty was suffering from emphysema, issues with his knees and a fractured hip.

“We knew before the report was shared with us that he was prescribed various pain medications for a multitude of issues including Fentanyl patches and we feel confident that this was, as the coroner found, an unfortunate accident,” the post read. “As a family we recognize this report may spark a further discussion on the opioid crisis and we feel that it is a healthy and necessary discussion and we hope in some way this report can save lives. Many people who overdose begin with a legitimate injury or simply do not understand the potency and deadly nature of these medications.”

Petty died on Oct. 2, 2017 at the UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica, California. THR also reported the mixed drugs caused the lead singer of Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers to go into cardiac arrest. This caused several of his organs to fail and resulted in his death.

“We continue to mourn with you and marvel at Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ incredible positive impact on music and the world. And we thank you all for your love and support over the last months,” Dana and Adria Petty wrote in the post. “Thank you also for respecting the memory of a man who was truly great during his time on this planet both publicly and privately.”

Petty sold more than 80 million records during his time with The Heartbreakers and as a solo artist. He won three Grammy awards for various songs and music videos and was inducted into the Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.