Tom Petty's loss was a devastating, unforeseen surprise that saddened the music world and
millions of fans around the globe.
And he was enhancing his legacy right up until the end.
This is what Tom Petty's final 12 months were like.
In the fall of 2016, Tom Petty celebrated a major milestone: the 40th anniversary of
the formation of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in 1976.
Besides releasing a mega vinyl box set with remastered editions of all 16 of their albums,
Petty also reunited with the band in November in preparation for an upcoming 40th anniversary
reunion tour.
They hadn't played together for a while, so they jammed together to get back into playing
shape.
Band-member Benmont Tench told Rolling Stone,
"We mainly did cover songs.
[...] Tom was also making up songs on the spot.
We were shaking off the rust."
It worked, and in December, Petty went on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon to announce
the tour.
"Are you looking forward to the upcoming tour?"
"Yeah Jimmy, I'm really excited.
Should be a lot of fun."
But he also hinted to Rolling Stone that it may be their last big tour.
"I'm thinking it may be the last trip around the country.
[...] We're all on the backside of our sixties.
I have a granddaughter now I'd like to see as much as I can."
As the band began rehearsals for the 40th Anniversary Tour, Tom Petty received a nice
surprise: In February 2017, he received the MusiCares Person of the Year award.
A massive event with over three hours of live music by everyone from The Bangles to the
Foo Fighters, the show earned over $8.5 million to support struggling musicians.
Petty was humbled, telling the audience,
"Twenty years ago, I would have been way too cynical to do this, but I'm 66 now."
Longtime friend and collaborator Stevie Nicks, who first met Petty way back in 1978, also
performed.
But she later revealed that she was worried about Petty's health that night, to the point
where she wanted him to cancel the tour.
She told People that Petty had expressed to her how important the MusiCares honor was
to him.
"And maybe he was talking about it because [he] was ill.
He was not well."
What Nicks had picked up on is that Petty was indeed in pain, from an undisclosed hip
fracture.
According to Rolling Stone, Petty's manager tried to convince him to cancel or postpone
the tour, but Petty insisted on touring, saying
"I'll do it in a chair if I have to."
There was a lot at stake, not least of all the estimated $61 million worth of tickets
that had been sold, and the tour began in April as scheduled.
The band played around the country, and then headed overseas, playing London's Hyde Park
at the start of July, where Petty was joined on stage again by Stevie Nicks.
Two weeks later, though, Petty fell ill with bronchitis and laryngitis, forcing the band
to postpone some shows as he recovered.
By the end of August, he was back on stage.
But Peter Wolf of the J. Geils Band, who opened the concert, told Rolling Stone that Petty
was clearly struggling.
"He was going through some great pain.
I'd watch him coming down from the stage.
There was an inner force driving him."
In his final interview, Petty told the Los Angeles Times that he had plenty more to do
- once he felt up to it.
"I just have to learn to rest a little bit, like everyone's telling me.
I need to stop working for a period of time."
On October 2nd, 2017, TMZ reported that late the previous evening, Tom Petty, quote, "was
found unconscious, not breathing and in full cardiac arrest" at his home in Malibu, California.
That led to an unfortunate media frenzy where several outlets reported throughout the day
that he had passed away, which in turn led to angry denials from his family.
Sadly, though, those reports turned out to be prophetic, as Petty did end up passing
away later that evening, at 8:40 PM.
A post on Tom Petty's official website read, in part,
"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."
He was buried at Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine in Pacific Palisades with his
parents.
As tributes rolled out across the media, the cause of Tom Petty's death remained "pending"
as an official autopsy was performed.
Three long months later, Rolling Stone reported that the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner
had officially listed the cause of death as an accidental overdose of several prescription
opioid medications.
Besides drugs to treat insomnia, depression, and emphysema, he was also on several pain
medications for his injured hip.
A statement from his family read in part,
"Despite this painful injury, he insisted on keeping his commitment to his fans and
he toured for 53 dates with a fractured hip and, as he did, it worsened to a more serious
injury.
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."
But they went on to pay tribute to Petty, the musician and man, saying
"On a positive note we now know for certain he went painlessly and beautifully exhausted
after doing what he loved the most, for one last time, performing live with his unmatchable
rock band for his loyal fans on the biggest tour of his 40 plus year career.
He was extremely proud of that achievement in the days before he passed."
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