Tom Petty ( Dies at 66 )
Tom Petty, a Mainstay of Rock With the Heartbreakers, Dies at 66
Tom Petty,
a singer, songwriter and guitarist who melded California rock with a
deep, stubborn Southern heritage to produce a long string of durable
hits, died on Monday in Los Angeles. He was 66.
Tony
Dimitriades, Mr. Petty’s longtime manager, said in a statement that Mr.
Petty suffered cardiac arrest at his home in Malibu, Calif., early
Monday morning and was taken to the U.C.L.A. Medical Center, where he
could not be revived. He was pronounced dead at 8:40 p.m. with family
members, friends and bandmates present at the hospital, Mr. Dimitriades
said.
Recording with the Heartbreakers, the band he formed in the mid-1970s, and on his own, Mr. Petty wrote pithy, hardheaded songs that
gave a contemporary clarity to 1960s roots. His voice was grainy and
unpretty, with a Florida drawl that he proudly displayed.
His songs were staples of rock radio for decades, and with hits like “Refugee,” “Don’t Come Around Here No More,” “Free Fallin’ ” and
“Into the Great Wide Open,” Mr. Petty sold millions of albums and
headlined arenas and festivals well into 2017. He played the Super Bowl
halftime show in 2008 and entered the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in
2002.
But
his songs stayed down-to-earth, with sturdy guitar riffs carrying
lyrics that spoke for underdogs and ornery outcasts. In his 1989 hit, “I
Won’t Back Down,” he sang, “You can stand me up at the gates of hell /
But I won’t back down.”
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