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Rock star Tom Petty has died at the age of 66

Posted at 12:07 PM, Oct 02, 2017
and last updated 2017-10-03 00:30:42-04

Rock legend and three-time Grammy award winner Tom Petty died Monday after suffering from cardiac arrest, Petty's manager announced. He was 66 years old.

"On behalf of the Tom Petty family, we are devastated to announce the untimely death of of our father, husband, brother, leader and friend Tom Petty," Tony Dimitriades, longtime manager of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, said on behalf of the family.

"He suffered cardiac arrest at his home in Malibu in the early hours of this morning and was taken to UCLA Medical Center but could not be revived. He died peacefully at 8:40 p.m. PT surrounded by family, his bandmates, and friends."

TMZ reports that Petty was found unconscious on Sunday night and rushed to the hospital. When he arrived at the hospital, it was determined that he had no brain activity and was pulled off life support on Monday.

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Petty and his band, the Heartbreakers, just wrapped up a 50-plus show tour with three performances at Los Angeles' Hollywood Bowl just over a week ago. He was schedule to play two shows in New York City on Nov. 8 and 9.

Petty enjoyed a career spanning more than 40 years. He earned his first hit in 1977 with "Breakdown," and went on to record other smash hits like "I Won't Back Down" and "Free Fallin'." Petty and the Heartbreakers also played the halftime show of Super Bowl XLII in 2008.

Five of Petty's albums with the Heartbreakers are certified gold, another five are certified platinum.

Over the course of four decades, Petty sold 80 million records. His best-selling album, Damn the Torpedoes, was certified platinum three times in 1979. The album contained some of Petty's biggest hits, including "Don't Do Me Like That," "Refugee" and "Here Comes My Girl."