Legendary Rocker Tom Petty Dead At 66 After Being Taken Off Life Support

Tom Petty, lead singer of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, died on Monday, his family announced. He was 66.

Petty was found unconscious in his home Sunday night and was rushed to the UCLA Medical Center at Santa Monica while in "full cardiac arrest," according to TMZ. The outlet reported he was taken off life support the next day when he was found to have "no brain activity."

Several news outlets, including HuffPost, had announced the singer's death earlier Monday after the Los Angeles Police Department "inadvertently provided [info] to some media sources." The outlets walked those reports back, and the police apologized for the error.

Late Monday, the band's manager released a statement confirming the death of the music icon:

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers released their self-titled debut in 1976, which included the Top 40 hit "Breakdown." Over the following decades, the band turned out over a dozen studio albums and a steady string of hits that included "Don't Do Me Like That," "Refugee," "The Waiting" and "American Girl."

Petty also kept busy with solo hits such as "Free Fallin'" and "I Won't Back Down," as well as performing with the band Mudcrutch and the Traveling Wilburys, a folk-rock supergroup featuring Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne and Roy Orbison.

Dylan, reached by Rolling Stone, described Petty's death as "shocking, crushing news" and said he would always remember his friend.

"I thought the world of Tom," he told the outlet. "He was great performer, full of the light, a friend, and I'll never forget him."

Born in Gainesville, Florida, on Oct. 20, 1950, Petty's childhood was marred by poverty and hardship. In "Petty: The Biography," written by fellow musician and superfan Warren Zanes, Petty recalled being frequently beaten by his abusive father.

"When my father got home ... he came in, took a belt and beat the living shit out of me," he said. "He beat me so bad that I was covered in raised welts, from my head to my toes. I mean, you can't imagine someone hitting a child like that."

Petty said he found solace and meaning through music early on. At the age of 11, he famously met Elvis Presley while the rock and roll star was in Florida filming a movie.

In an interview with Esquire, Petty said he remembered Presley looking almost mythical. "I was really young and impressionable," Petty recalled. "Elvis really did look ... sort of not real, as if he were glowing. He was astounding, even spiritual."

Petty said his meeting with Presley sparked his love for rock and roll, but it was The Beatles' 1964 appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show" that convinced him to make his own music.

"This was the great moment in my life, really, that changed everything," he said.

Petty quit high school when he was 17 to join Mudcrutch, a rock group that would include two of his future bandmates, Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench. The pair would join Petty to become longtime members of the Heartbreakers in 1975. The newly formed group released their debut album, "Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers," a year later.

The group had a slow beginning, but became a hit a few years later with the album "Damn the Torpedoes," which sold 3 million copies and was certified multiplatinum. Petty and the Heartbreakers continued to tour for decades, releasing hit record after hit record, including several with Petty billed as a solo artist with backing from several bandmates.

The hit song "Free Fallin'" came in 1989 as part of his debut solo album "Full Moon Fever," which sold 5 million copies and went on to become his best-selling record.