Tom Petty's Death

Overview

Tom Petty was an American rock and roll singer-songwriter, musician and producer best known as the frontman for band Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. In early October 2017, Petty passed away after suffering a cardiac arrest at his home in Los Angeles, California.

Background

On October 2nd, 2017, Petty suffered a cardiac arrest at his home in Los Angeles, California, and was rushed to the University of California-Los Angeles' Santa Monica hospital, where he was subsequently pronounced dead.

Developments

Online Reaction

That day, several posts about Petty's condition and tributes to the musician reached the frontpage of various subreddits, including /r/music,^[2] /r/news,^[3] /r/Guitar^[4] and /r/The_Donald.^[5] Also that day, the TMZ YouTube channel uploaded the 911 call made by Petty's wife after discovering her husband unconscious (shown below). The video was heavily downvoted by viewers, with many commenting that publishing the call was disrespectful.

Tributes

Following news of Petty's death, many notable rock and roll musicians paid tribute to Petty's memory, including Eric Clapton, Mick Jagger, Slash, Joey Kramer, Joe Elliott, Alice Cooper, Peter Gabriel, Paul McCartney, John Mellencamp, George Harrison, Bruce Springsteen and Elton John.^[6][7] Meanwhile, the band Coldplay performed a cover of Petty's 1989 hit single "Free Fallin'" at a concert in Portland, Oregon (shown below).

That evening, Petty's official Twitter account posted a statement from Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers manager Tony Dimitriades, which gathered upwards of 122,000 likes and 70,700 retweets (shown below).

Search Interest

External References