US rock artist Tom Petty dies at 66

October 5, 2017

At the age of 66, US musician  suffered cardiac arrest on Monday morning and died that evening at the UCLA Medical Center, Santa Monica in California, according to reports.

Petty, born in, Florida in 1950, was best known as the lead singer of. With the Heartbreakers and as a solo artist, Petty recorded a number of hit singles. He was one of the best-selling music artists of all time, selling more than 80 million records worldwide over the course of his career. He was inducted into the in 2002. Petty also co-founded the late 1980s the.

Petty had a number of acting roles on and, playing the mayor of a post-apocalyptic town in the 1997 Kevin Costner film  . In 2002, Petty appeared on ' episode "" and from 2004 to 2009 voiced character Lucky on '.

Petty married Jane Benyo in 1974, and they divorced in 1996. With Benyo, Petty had two daughters, and Annakim. He married Dana York in 2001, acquiring a stepson named Dylan from her earlier marriage. He is also survived by a younger brother, Bruce, and a granddaughter, Everly.