Rocker Tom Petty dead at 66, reports say; LAPD can't confirm

LOS ANGELES (RNN) - Musician Tom Petty, 66, has died according to CBS News, which said the Los Angeles Police Department confirmed it. 

However, Raycom Media called the Media Relations Division for the LAPD, and the officer refused to confirm it. He was aware of the CBS report and didn't know what their source was, saying that the LAPD had no interaction with Tom Petty all day.

Reports say he was rushed to the hospital and put on life support Sunday night after he was found at his Malibu home in cardiac arrest, unconscious and not breathing.

EMTs arrived and were able to restore a pulse, according to TMZ.

The Hollywood Reporter confirmed authorities responded to a Malibu home for a man having a heart attack. However, officials would not confirm if the man was Petty. 

The Rock and Roll Hall of Famer was known for a high, gravelly voice chart-topping hits like "Free Falling," "I Won't Back Down," "American Girl" and "Running Down a Dream," Refugee," "Don't Come Around Here No More," and many, many more.

He formed Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers in 1975 and their first album in 1976 was an immediate success.It led to unbroken success over the next four decades.

He helped form the Traveling Wilburys supergroup in the late 1980s, which included George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, Jeff Lynne and Jim Keltner. 

Petty was born on Oct. 29, 1950, in Florida, and by the age of 17 had dropped out of school to play with his band, Mudcrutch. Though he had been a solo act since 1989, he continued to tour with Mudcrutch and the Heartbreakers.

He struggled with heartbreak and drug abuse, revealing in his 2015 biography that he abused heroin in the 1990s.

He has won three Grammys and has been nominated 18 times.

Petty had just completed an extensive, six-month tour last Monday at the Hollywood Bowl.

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