News has just come in that Tom Petty aged 66 has died from cardiac arrest.Tom Petty was best known for his roots-infused music and hits such as Free Fallin', Refugee, Don't Do Me Like That and American Girl.May he rest in peace.
(please note I did not write this article it is from the ABC NEWS)
"From Heartbreakers to Wilburys, Petty 'full of the light'"
Florida-born Petty, with shaggy blond hair and gaunt features, drew upon the Byrds, the Beatles and other musicians he loved while growing up in the 1960s.
He caught the rock'n'roll bug as a child after he was introduced by his uncle to Elvis Presley, who was shooting the picture Follow That Dream on location in Florida in 1960.
He has said he began working on music in earnest after seeing the Beatles on The Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964.
Petty formed The Heartbreakers in the mid 1970s, but it was not until the band's third album Damn the Torpedoes in 1979 that their music really took off, with hits such as Refugee and Don't Do Me Like That.
Musician Tom Petty holding a guitar performs on stage.
PHOTO: Petty and the Heartbreakers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. (Reuters: Eduardo Munoz)
Petty and the Heartbreakers were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002, when they were described by organisers as "the quintessential American individualists", capturing the voice of the American everyman.
He was also a member of the 1980s supergroup The Traveling Wilburys with Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, George Harrison and Jeff Lynne, penning hits such as End of the Line and She's My Baby.
Dylan called his death "shocking, crushing news" in a statement to Rolling Stone magazine.
"[Petty was] a great performer, full of the light, a friend, and I'll never forget him," he said.
