R.I.P. Tom Petty

Tom Petty at The Hollywood Bowl on Thursday, September 21, 2017.
Photo: Drew A. Kelley

I am heartbroken that Tom Petty has died.

A number of media outlets are reporting that he was rushed to UCLA Santa Monica Hospital in Southern California on Sunday night after going into cardiac arrest in his Malibu home.

Only 66, the Gainesville, Florida native had been unconscious and was apparently just taken off life support. (Editor's Note: his death was officially announced tonight, Oct. 2, 2017 at around 9 p.m. Pacific Time)

I just saw him late last month at the first of his three final dates of his 40th Anniversary Tour where he played a fantastic concert at The Hollywood Bowl on September 21, 2017. You can read my review of that show here.

A truly great artist, Tom Petty has a great career with the Heartbreakers and also was a member of the Traveling Wilburys in the late 1980s, a group also comprised of Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne and Roy Orbison. His debut album was released in November 1976 and his most recent album was 2014's Hypnotic Eye. Amazing to think that while Tom Petty's music career spanned from 1970 to 2017 (he reportedly joined the band Mudcrutch when he was only 17), it was not nearly long enough. He will truly be missed by all of us...

Robert Kinsler