Tom Petty died Monday at UCLA Santa Monica Hospital, a spokesperson for the singer said. He was in critical condition and placed on life support after being found unconscious and not breathing after going into cardiac arrest.
"He died peacefully at 8:40pm PT surrounded by family, his bandmates and friends," said longtime Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers manager Tony Dimitriades.
Initial reports said Petty had died Monday afternoon, but those were erroneous. Petty had been taken off life support and was clinging to life, according to TMZ.
In late August, the 66-year-old musician cancelled a number of shows for health reasons. "With deepest regrets, we have just been informed that Tom Petty's laryngitis has not improved sufficiently enough in order to perform tonight," his management said at the time. Petty recovered, however, to return for a number of shows in California throughout September. Petty was on his 40th anniversary tour—one that he told Rolling Stone last year might "be the last big one. We're all on the backside of our 60s. 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."
His final show was on Monday 25 September at the Hollywood Bowl, which he played with Juliette Lewis. The singer shared a video of Petty playing "Free Falling" for the final time.
