Tom Petty's widow Dana thinks her husband's untimely death in October of 2017 could have
been prevented. Is she right? Keep watching for some answers revealed in Petty's autopsy report.
Tom Petty was born in Florida in 1950. As a young boy, he idolized The Beatles and Elvis Presley,
and would soon learn how to play the guitar. In high school, he played bass guitar for a band,
and at 17, he dropped out of school so that he could concentrate on pursuing a career in music.
In 1974, Petty moved to Los Angeles with his band Mudcrutch in hopes of making it big.
"We had a whole stack of reel to reel tapes, and we drove to L.A."
However, the single that they launched didn't make an impact, and Mudcrutch broke up soon
after. Despite that, the record label saw Petty's talent and gave him a contract.
Together with his former Mudcrutch bandmates and two others,
Petty formed Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. The band launched their debut album in 1976,
and from there, they went on to release several hits. In addition to working with the band,
Petty also had solo projects and collaborated with other musicians as well. In total, Tom Petty
and the Heartbreakers released 13 studio albums; Petty also released three albums as a solo artist.
In September 2017, Tom Petty had just finished the 40th-anniversary tour with the Heartbreakers.
Shortly after it ended, TMZ reported that the musician was found unconscious in his
home in Malibu. He was immediately rushed to the hospital but remained unconscious.
News sources said that he was on life support and in critical condition. He had a pulse,
but according to the doctors who treated him, he no longer had brain activity.
Petty was pulled off life support and died on October 2nd, 2017, at the age of 66. The
rock icon was buried at the Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine in Pacific Palisades.
The ceremony took place with his family and a few of his closest friends in attendance.
Petty had been suffering from a few health issues even before the tour started.
As Rolling Stone reported, he had coronary artery disease and was on medication for emphysema,
a hip fracture, and knee problems. Despite his condition, he insisted on performing
and completed 53 tour dates before his death. Petty's wife and daughter said in a statement:
"On the day he died, he was informed his hip had graduated to a full-on break and it is our
feeling that the pain was simply unbearable and was the cause for his overuse of medication."
Tom Petty was open about his addiction to heroin. In a book titled Petty: The Biography,
author Warren Zanes shared how the musician started using the drug to
cope after his divorce from his first wife. He attempted to quit,
but it didn't work. In speaking about his battles with addiction, Petty told Zanes:
"It's an ugly [...] thing."
Months after his death, autopsy and toxicology reports were released, and they showed that
Petty’s official cause of death was multisystem organ failure caused by drug intoxication.
According to the Connecticut-based addiction treatment center Turnbridge,
there were several drugs in his system at the time of his death,
including fentanyl and oxycodone. Most of these drugs were legally prescribed for Petty's pain,
anxiety, depression, and insomnia. His family addressed his cause of death, saying:
"Many people who overdose begin with a legitimate injury or simply
do not understand the potency and deadly nature of these medications."
According to his wife Dana, Petty's death could have been prevented if he had gotten
a hip replacement and canceled his tour. However, as the Los Angeles Times reported,
he insisted on going forward, as he didn't want to disappoint his fans or the people he worked with.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers drummer Steve Ferrone shared how he witnessed Petty's struggles
during the tour. He said that the frontman would take oxycontin before the show to get through it,
and would sometimes need help going to and from the stage. Ferrone went on to add:
"He was very loyal. He felt he had a lot of people relying on him, the band and the crew,
to make a living. But there's not a person on that
crew or in the band that wouldn't have given up that tour for him."
If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, please call the Substance Abuse
and Mental Health Administration’s 24/7 National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP. That’s 1-800-662-4357.