UPDATE:
“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. 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 8:40pm PT surrounded by family, his bandmates and friends….”
Earlier today we, and many other sources including TMZ, CBS and Rolling Stone, among others, reported that rocker Tom Petty, frontman for The Heartbreakers, had died today.
He was found at his home unconscious, not breathing and in full cardiac arrest at his Malibu home last night and was rushed to the hospital and placed on life support. EMTs were able to find a pulse when they found him, but TMZ reported that the hospital found no brain activity when he arrived. A decision was made to pull life support. CBS confirmed Petty’s death.
But it wasn’t true. CBS News reported information obtained officially from the LAPD about Tom Petty. The LAPD later said it was not in a position to confirm information about the singer and that
“initial information was inadvertently provided to some media sources.“
In that statement, the LAPD also apologized for “any inconvenience in this reporting.”
Petty’s friend and Traveling Wilburys bandmate Bob Dylan had told Rolling Stone in a statement,
“It’s shocking, crushing news. I thought the world of Tom. He was great performer, full of the light, a friend, and I’ll never forget him.”
His daughter took to Instagram to set the record straight and slam Rolling Stone. Annakim Violette posted a searing attack on Rolling Stone today amid widespread reports of the legendary rockers death. Violette has been posting tributes to her father all day, and one such post is one of his old Rolling Stone covers, where she goes off on the magazine for its “tabloid” nature, and for reporting his death when it has not been confirmed.
“my dad is not dead yet but your fucking magazine is ⚡️⚡️⚡️your slime😵 has been pieces of tabloid dog shit. You put the worst artists on your covers do zero research. How dare you report that my father has died just to get press because your articles and photos are so dated. I will fucking shit down your throat and your family’s . Try not being a trump vibe. This is my father not a celebrity. An artist and human being. Fuck u”
But Rolling Stone was far from the only outlet to run with a report from the LAPD that Petty had indeed passed after initial reports of his heart attack.
Even Courtney Love and Annie Lennox were mourning the loss earlier.
(Photo, Instagram; via Uproxx)
