Thomas Earl Petty (October 20, 1950 – October 2, 2017) was an American musician, singer, songwriter, multi instrumentalist and record maker. He was best known as the lead vocalist of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, but at the same time was a member and co-founder of the late 1980s super-group – ‘The Traveling Wilburys’, and his initial band ‘Mudcrutch’.
Petty was found unconscious at his home, not breathing and in full cardiac arrest, at a young hour in the morning of October 2, 2017. His passing was rashly revealed by media outlets that evening, in spite of the fact that the underlying reports were withdrawn after the Los Angeles Police Department declared that it had unintentionally shown his demise to the media without affirming it. It was confirmed later that night by his family and administrator. He died at the University of California-Los Angeles’ Santa Monica hospital.
