BY KRAIG PIERCE
American music icon and “Rock and Roll Hall of Famer”, Tom Petty, was found in full cardiac arrest in his Malibu home this week. Petty was not breathing and unresponsive. On Sunday night, and was transported to the UCLA Santa Monica hospital, where he showed no signs of brain activity. He was taken off of life support late Monday.
Celebrity news and gossip source, TMZ, began circulating rumors that Petty had died late Sunday, which spread to other news sources. On Monday afternoon. CBS News announced that Petty had died. Other sources were hesitant to make any definitive statements, due to the secrecy surrounding Petty’s status until he was taken off of life support on Monday. CBS later retracted their announcement that Petty had died; however, his situation was still dire.
Petty did pass peacefully at 8:40 pm PT surrounded by family.
Tom Petty was an award-winning musician, and a member of the world-famous band, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Throughout his career, Petty won three Grammy Awards and was nominated for 18 more. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.