Music legend Tom Petty has died at the age of 66, after being found in cardiac arrest at his home.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers completed their 40th anniversary tour just last Monday with three nights at the Hollywood Bowl. He told Rolling Stone it was intended to be his “last trip around the country.”
While the word “legend” gets thrown around a lot, there is no denying Tom Petty’s contribution to recording, songwriting, and music spanning four decades. Labeled a rocker, he quickly transcended that label with songs that appealed to just about every demographic.
Petty sold more than 80 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time. His songs “The Waiting,” “You Got Lucky,” “I Won’t Back Down,” “Learning to Fly” and “Mary Jane’s Last Dance” all dominated Billboard’s rock chart, and the majority of Petty’s albums have been certified either gold or platinum.
His most recent release, Hypnotic Eye, debuted at Number One in 2014. Petty, who also recorded as a solo artist and as a member of the Traveling Wilburys and Mudcrutch, was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002.
