He said as much from the stage each night, noting how the Heartbreakers, although composed entirely of musicians born or raised in and around Gainesville, Fla., had been born at the Village Studios in West Los Angeles. It was a triumphant stand particularly rewarding to Petty, a Florida transplant who considered himself and his band mates California adoptees. When I sat down with Petty in the outer room of the cosy but fully equipped recording studio at his home above Malibu beach, the idea was for him to reflect on the wildly successful 40th anniversary tour he and the Heartbreakers had wrapped less than 48 hours earlier at the end of three sold-out nights at the Hollywood Bowl. This is not the way things were supposed to happen. Though I was more than thrilled to catch up with Petty, whom I had interviewed before, I had no clue that this would turn out to be the last, for me and for him - that he would die just a few days later after suffering a massive heart attack at age 66. We would be grateful if you could respect the privacy of the entire Heartbreaker family during this difficult time.This is not the Tom Petty story that I had intended to write. Thank you also for respecting the memory of a man who was truly great during his time on this planet both publicly and privately.
And we thank you all for your love and support over the last months. We continue to mourn with you and marvel at Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers incredible positive impact on music and the world.
He was extremely proud of that achievement in the days before he passed.
TOM PETTY DIED PLUS
On a positive note we now know for certain he went painlessly and beautifully exhausted after doing what he loved the most, for one last time, performing live with his unmatchable rock band for his loyal fans on the biggest tour of his 40 plus year career. Many people who overdose begin with a legitimate injury or simply do not understand the potency and deadly nature of these medications. 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.Īs 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.
TOM PETTY DIED FULL
On the day he died he was informed his hip had graduated to a full on break and it is our feeling that the pain was simply unbearable and was the cause for his over use of medication. Unfortunately Tom’s body suffered from many serious ailments including emphysema, knee problems and most significantly a fractured hip.ĭespite this painful injury he insisted on keeping his commitment to his fans and he toured for 53 dates with a fractured hip and, as he did, it worsened to a more serious injury. 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.