Rock Legend Tom Petty Confirmed Dead At 66

(hennemusic) Management confirmed Tom Petty died Monday at the age of 66 in a Santa Monica, CA hospital after being found unconscious at his Malibu home Sunday night.

"On behalf of the Tom Petty family we are devastated to announce the untimely death of our father, husband, brother, leader and friend Tom Petty," confirmed Tony Dimitriades, longtime manager of Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, 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 8:40pm PST surrounded by family, his bandmates and friends."

TMZ first broke the news of Petty's emergency, which found him unconscious, not breathing and in full cardiac arrest at his residence when EMT's arrived on scene.

In critical condition from the moment he was discovered in distress, the singer was rushed to the UCLA Santa Monica Hospital where he was put on life support.

Petty reportedly had no signs of brain activity when he arrived at the hospital and a decision was made to remove him from life support as family, friends and his bandmates gathered on site.

Confirmation of the rocker's death comes hours after it was first reported by CBS News in a breaking news story early Monday based on information obtained officially from the Los Angeles Police Department, with Petty's passing making headlines around the world prematurely; the LAPD later said it was not in a position to confirm the singer's status.

"The LAPD has no information about the passing of singer Tom Petty," tweeted the LAPD. "Initial information was inadvertantly provided to some media sources. However, the LAPD has no investigative role in this matter. We apologize for any inconvenience in this reporting." Read more here.

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