Tom Petty’s Death Confirmed by Longtime Manager

Tom Petty has officially died, according to his longtime manager Tony Dimitriade. He was 66.

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

He died at 11:40 p.m. EST after being rushed to the hospital earlier on Sunday. He was surrounded by his family, bandmates and friends at the time of his death.

When he was found in his Malibu home, Petty was not breathing and was unconscious. At the time of his hospitalization, he was in cardiac arrest and later put on life support.

According to TMZ, EMTs rushed to his home and were able to get a pulse. He was then taken to the UCLA Santa Monica Hospital.

When Petty arrived at the medical center, he reportedly had no brain activity. His loved ones made the decision to pull him off of life support.

It was widely reported that Petty had died sometime in the afternoon, but those reports were discredited and retracted. He hung on for several more hours, but could not recover.

The Florida native is an inductee in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and is primarily known for his wildly popular rock songs with his band, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

The band burst onto the scene in 1976. Their biggest hits included “I Won’t Back Down,” “Runnin’ Down a Dream,” and “American Girl.”

Petty was also a member of a supergroup collective called the Traveling Wilburys in the late ’80s alongside Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne.

Over the years, Petty won three Grammys and racked up 18 nominations.

This past month, Petty concluded his most recent tour, which started back in April. During an interview with Rolling Stone, Petty explained that the tour, which was done in honor of their 40th anniversary, would likely be “the last big one.”

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

Photo Credit: Warner Bros.